WITHLASALLE 
THE  EXPLORER 


...:..    -  •;,.. ;_•_•...• 
f'.i        «r"— T    * 


.'•'.... 


In  the  name  of  tfte  mo^t 
midfttu  ,invincible  and  victorious 
Prince?  i/ouis  ,tfie  Grreat 


£1  the  name  of  tfte  most 
midfitu, invincible  and  victorious 
nnce?  I/ouis  Afie  Great 


WHLASALL 


EEXPLORER 


1UAJSTRATIONS  N 
BY-  HENRY  CPITZ 


NEW  YORK 

HENRY  HOLT 

§,  COMPANY 

1922 


COPYBIGHT,   19ii2, 

BY 
HENRY  HOLT  AND  COMPANY 


PRINTED   IN    THE    U.    S.    A. 


TO 

A.   L.   M. 

STAUNCH  AND  LOYAL 
BRAVE    AND    TENDER. 


M528463 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 


PAGE 


I.  AT  THE  KING'S  COURT    ...  1 

II.    QUEBEC 18 

III.  BUILDING  THE  "GRIFFIN"    .      .  38 

IV.  CAPTIVES 54 

V.  IN  A  SENECA  LODGE  ....  69 

VI.  RAOUI/S  FIRST  DEER      ...  85 

VII.  THE  "GRIFFIN"  SPREADS  HER 

WINGS 99 

VIII.  AMONG  THE  ILLINOIS     .      .      .  114 

IX.    TREACHERY 132 

X.  TONTY  IN  DANGER    ....  147 

XI.  HUNTING  AND  TRAPPING     .      .  163 

XII.    SWIFT  Fox 178 

XIII.  THE  GREAT  RIVER     ....  191 

XIV.    THE  GOAL 206 

XV.  THE  MEDICINE  BAG      ...  223 

XVI.  THE  FOREST  LODGE  ....  236 

XVII.  KING  Louis  REMEMBERS     .      .  250 

XVIII.  DISILLUSIONMENT     ....  265 

V 


CONTENTS 


OHAPTEK 

XIX. 
XX. 
XXI. 

THE  FINAL  EFFORT  .... 
THE  PIGMIES  AND  THE  GIANT  . 
RAOUL'S  DECISION  . 

PAGE 

279 
291 
303 

XXII. 

AMBUSHED  

318 

XXIII. 
XXIV. 
XXV. 

THE  PROPHETESS  .... 
OLD  WOLF  AWAKES  .... 
THE  END  OF  THE  TRAIL 

332 
345 
359 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

"In  the  name  of  the  most  high,  mighty,  in 
vincible  and  victorious  Prince,  Louis, 
the  Great" Frontispiece 


La  Salle  answered,  "That  were  indeed  pos 
sible  if  you  are  old  enough  to  know 
what  you  really  desire."  .... 

For  three  days  they  sailed  onward  . 

Each  morning  La  Salle  felt  sure  he  would 
discover  some  marsh 

In  his  new-found  strength  Raoul  enjoyed 
the  days  of  journeyings  .... 


Facing 
Page 


16 
102 

276 
308 


vu 


WITH  LA  SALLE  THE 
EXPLORER 

CHAPTER   I 

AT  THE  KING'S  COURT 

T  was  early  spring,  but  the  air  was 
warm,  and  the  trees  and  hedges 
in  the  vast  grounds  of  the  King's 
palace  at  Versailles  had  already 
fully  unfolded  their  leaves.  Even 
the  blossoms  of  the  horse  chest 
nuts,  white  and  pink,  stood  erect  as  the  King's 
guards  themselves ;  and  the  golden  oranges  hang 
ing  on  the  dwarfed  bushes  in  their  earthenware 
pots  on  the  Orangerie  terrace  seemed  to  announce 
themselves  as  the  forerunners  of  the  fruit  harvest 
that  later  would  fill  the  gardens  surrounded  by 
their  high  sun-warmed  walls. 


2  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

It  was  after  dinner,  and  the  King  and  the 
Court,  heavy  with  the  languor  of  the  spring  aft 
ernoon,  were  resting  for  an  hour  or  so.  There 
was  little  life  to  be  seen,  except  for  the  muske 
teers  at  their  posts  and  the  gardeners  with  their 
tools  who  were  clipping,  planting,  and  smooth 
ing  the  walks,  and  every  now  and  then  a  lackey 
hurrying  on  his  way  from  one  wing  of  the  palace 
to  another. 

But  Raoul  de  Larnac  did  not  find  his  sur 
roundings  dull.  When  one  is  twelve  and  on  a 
holiday  little  is  needed  for  happiness.  Even 
though  one  wore  the  black  robe  of  a  seminarist, 
it  could  be  unbuttoned  and  held  up  to  permit 
running.  And  Raoul,  glancing  about  first  care 
fully  to  see  that  there  was  no  one  looking  on  who 
would  censure  such  undignified  action  in  a  fu 
ture  priest,  took  to  his  heels  and  sped  down  one 
of  the  long  cross  avenues,  chasing  a  royal  grey 
hound  who  was  overjoyed  at  having  a  boy  to 
play  with.  Then  there  was  the  wide  basin  of  the 
fountain  to  pace  slowly  around,  that  he  might 
make  his  comrades'  eyes  widen  when  he  went 
back  to  school  with  the  unbelievable  girth  of  it. 
Perhaps  the  fountain  might  play  that  evening, 
one  of  the  gardeners  had  said,  and  that  was  one 
of  the  sights  of  the  world! 

It  was  all  so  wonderful,  thought  Raoul,  this 


AT  THE  KING'S  COURT  3 

perfect  garden  where  no  leaf  grew  out  of  place, 
where  no  one  wore  a  faded  garment,  where  no 
poverty  or  unhappiness  was  to  be  seen.  He 
had  heard  men  tell  how  many  workmen  had  lab 
ored  for  years  to  transform  a  waste  into  this 
splendor,  and  the  thousands  of  livres  it  had  cost ; 
but  this  meant  nothing  to  him  who  had  little  to 
do  with  money.  The  ease,  the  warmth,  the  rich 
ness,  the  absence  of  all  that  was  harsh,  did  him 
good  after  the  long  months  in  the  bare,  cold 
cloisters  of  his  school.  He  sat  idle  and  happy 
on  a  stone  seat  in  the  sunshine,  his  head  resting 
against  a  hedge  so  tall  and  thick  that  it  was  not 
possible  to  see  over  or  through  it.  He  wondered 
what  it  would  be  like  to  live  here  as  much  of  the 
time  as  did  Gervais;  but  he  knew  that  if  he 
could  choose  he  would  prefer  to  be  a  soldier  like 
Rene,  his  other  brother. 

While  he  was  reflecting  a  little  sadly  that  the 
choice  in  deciding  his  future  had  not  been  left 
to  him,  he  heard  steps  and  voices  on  the  other 
side  of  the  hedge.  It  gave  him  a  curious  pleas 
ure  to  listen  to  the  firm  tread  of  feet  which  stop 
ped  when  they  came  opposite  to  him.  Doubtless, 
he  thought,  the  two  men  had  seated  them 
selves  on  a  bench  placed  in  a  position  similar  to 
his  own. 

"There  will  be  many  dangers."  he  heard  one 


4  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

of  the  men  say.  The  voice  was  calm  and  deep, 
and  the  boy  imagined  that  it  must  belong  to 
some  great  noble;  he  recognized  in  it  the  tone 
of  men  who  make  themselves  obeyed. 

"Dangers!"  the  other  exclaimed.  "Would 
you  insult  me?  What  else  have  I  known  all 
my  life,  and  am  I  one  to  be  frightened  by  a 
word?" 

Though  the  words  of  the  speaker  were  French 
and  well  pronounced,  the  intonation  was  foreign 
— Spanish  or  Italian,  judged  Raoul. 

"I  meant  not  to  reflect  upon  your  courage, 
Sir,"  answered  the  Frenchman;  "that  no  man  in 
the  world  might  do.  But  it  seems  only  right 
that  before  you  agree  to  this  undertaking  you 
should  be  told  of  conditions  which  are  different 
from  any  that  exist  in  Europe.  The  Indians' 
method  of  warfare  is  cruel  and  treacherous; 
there  are  trackless  forests  which  awe  even  the 
bravest  men,  wild  beasts  and  hunger,  cold  such 
as  you  cannot  dream  of  here,  and  the  silence  of 
virgin  deserts." 

"What  you  tell  me,  Monsieur,  adds  only  to 
my  desire  to  accompany  you,"  said  the  for 
eigner.  "I  have  no  great  love  for  old  ways,  old 
wars  and  old  men  who  must  sit  at  warm  fire 
sides.  There  will  be  novelty,  if  not  glory  and 
gold  to  be  won." 


AT  THE  KING'S  COURT  5 

"Then  let  it  be  as  you  will,"  the  Frenchman 
exclaimed  heartily,  "and  in  truth,  Monsieur,  I 
rejoice  to  welcome  you  as  a  comrade." 

Raoul  heard  the  two  palms  as  they  came  to 
gether  cementing  the  alliance,  and  then  he  lis 
tened  in  absorbed  attention  while  the  two  dis 
cussed  further  plans  for  their  expedition,  the 
ship  and  provisions  to  be  secured,  the  funds  to 
be  raised,  the  men  who  should  be  chosen  in 
France  or  beyond  the  seas,  and  above  all,  the 
importance  of  the  royal  sanction.  The  boy  did 
not  stop  to  think  whether  he  had  a  right  to  listen 
to  a  conversation  which  was  not  intended  to  be 
overheard — his  whole  imagination  was  fired  by 
the  words  and  names  that  were  so  strange  to 
him.  They  carried  his  thoughts  far  away,  they 
made  him  forget  the  gray  walls  of  his  school, 
and  seemed  to  beckon  him  as  the  sunset  glow 
in  the  western  sky  always  seemed  to  call  him 
when  he  had  watched  it  from  the  cliffs  of  his 
Brittany  home. 

But  there  came  an  end  to  his  daydreams.  The 
voices  ceased  and  once  again  he  heard  the  firm 
tread  on  the  walk.  When  it  had  died  away  he 
looked  about  for  something  to  do.  Hearing  the 
sound  of  a  fife,  he  hurried  to  the  next  cross  path, 
and  in  the  distance  saw  a  body  of  the  King's 
musketeers  marching  towards  the  palace.  He 


6  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

was  near  enough  to  admire  their  bright-colored 
uniforms  and  shining  accoutrements. 

"Should  I  have  been  one  of  them  if  I  were 
the  eldest?"  he  asked  himself  but  did  not  answer. 

The  garden  was  now  astir  with  gay  life.  On 
the  terraces  sauntered  ladies  and  gentlemen; 
down  the  stairways  they  trailed  their  silken 
skirts,  smooth  hands  touching  the  arabesques  of 
the  carved  balustrades  as  they  descended,  or 
waving  painted,  tinselled  fans  before  the  faces 
of  their  cavaliers  in  silken  garments  of  bright 
hues,  red-heeled  buckled  shoes  and  curled  wigs 
falling  over  their  shoulders.  They  strolled 
through  every  avenue,  bits  of  color  more  bril 
liant  than  butterflies.  Music  came  gently  from 
hidden  arbors,  and  sedan-chairs  borne  on  the 
shoulders  of  sturdy  grooms  carried  to  farther 
points  of  the  garden  belles  too  languid  or  dow 
agers  too  advanced  in  years  to  walk  that  dis 
tance. 

Raoul,  by  no  means  the  only  black  robe 
among  all  the  bright  ones,  looked  on  in  wonder. 
Not  since  he  had  last  seen  a  Pardon  in  his  native 
province  had  he  beheld  so  many  people  in  one 
place;  and  then  in  Brittany  it  had  been  a  relig 
ious  festival  which  brought  the  folk  together, 
while  here  it  was  the  gaiety  of  the  King's  court. 


AT  THE  KING'S  COURT  7 

" Should  I  have  been  a  courtier?"  again  he  ques 
tioned  himself. 

He  listened  to  the  conversation  of  some  of  the 
groups  that  passed  him,  and  though  he  knew 
none  of  the  faces  and  few  of  the  names  he 
heard,  he  realized  that  he  was  in  the  company 
of  some  of  the  men  who  were  making  the  court 
of  Louis  the  Fourteenth,  "the  Sun  King,"  re 
nowned  and  envied  throughout  all  Europe. 
These  were  writers,  he  had  been  told  at  school, 
whose  learning  and  eloquence  had  never  been 
equaled,  and  statesmen  and  churchmen  and 
men  of  the  robe  who  helped  the  King  to  govern 
France  and  to  make  his  might  feared  in  all  the 
world. 

"Should  I  have  been  a  writer?"  he  asked 
again,  and  this  time  answered  himself  without 
hesitation.  He  was  sure  that  he  could  never  have 
been  writer,  lawyer,  financier,  even  if  he  had  not 
been  born  a  noble. 

He  felt  suddenly  lonely.  There  was  no  one 
he  knew  in  all  this  assembly  except  his  two 
brothers,  and  he  did  not  care  to  trouble  them  un 
til  the  hour  came  when  they  had  promised  to 
station  him  so  that  he  could  see  the  King  as  he 
returned  from  supper.  He  sauntered  down  a 
path  which  led  him  away  from  the  laughing, 
jesting,  disputing  groups,  to  none  of  which  did 


8      WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

he  belong.  After  some  minutes'  walk  he  found 
himself  at  the  edge  of  a  narrow  artificial  stream 
that  wound  its  way  through  green  banks  and  on 
which  a  couple  of  white  swans  were  sailing  slow 
ly  back  and  forth.  Here  Raoul  sat  down  and, 
because  he  was  lonely  and  felt  out  of  place  and 
at  odds  with  fate,  he  took  a  kind  of  savage  pleas 
ure  in  throwing  with  all  his  strength  the  stones 
he  picked  out  of  the  gravelled  walk  at  the  hedge 
on  the  other  side  of  the  stream,  at  the  posts  to 
which  a  float  for  disembarking  was  attached, 
and  at  tree  trunks  behind  him.  He  found  a  cer 
tain  satisfaction  in  this  exercise;  it  made  him 
think  of  the  games  he  used  to  play  with  the  fish 
er  children  on  the  rocks  near  the  castle  at  home. 
Not  since  he  had  left  there  had  anyone  cared 
how  hard  and  how  far  he  could  throw.  And  his 
thoughts  now  found  their  way  to  the  family 
chapel  in  the  castle,  with  the  recumbent  statues 
of  some  of  his  ancestors  before  the  altar,  and  the 
little  votive  ship  of  silver  his  greatuncle,  who 
loved  the  sea,  hung  up  in  gratitude  for  his  life 
which  had  been  saved  when  the  fishing  boat  had 
been  thrown  by  a  great  tempest  on  the  rocks 
that  sawed  her  in  two.  He  recalled  his  own 
fervor  in  prayer.  To  all  his  family,  as  to  all 
Bretons,  religion  was  a  big  part  of  life.  He 
must  not  forget  this,  he  said  to  himself;  yet  he 


AT  THE  KING'S  COURT  9 

added  in  thought,  "a  big  part,  yes,  but  I  do  not 
want  to  give  to  it  all  my  life." 

He  continued  his  stone-throwing  even  while 
he  was  thinking,  stooping  down  every  now  and 
then  to  replenish  his  ammunition  which  he  held 
in  his  left  hand.  Having  exhausted  all  the  other 
targets,  he  tried  the  swans,  their  wide  wrhite 
backs  offering  a  tempting  mark.  Each  time, 
though,  they  escaped,  until  just  as  they  were 
coming  to  a  turn  in  the  stream  he  succeeded  in 
hitting  the  tail  of  one  of  them,  which  encour 
aged  him.  He  endeavored  to  allow  for  the  mo 
tion  of  the  bird  and  aimed  his  stone  at  the  very 
edge  of  the  turn.  He  had  been  so  intent  that 
he  had  not  noticed  the  sound  of  approaching 
voices.  The  stone  shot  forth  just  as  a  barge 
turned  the  corner,  and  hit  sharply  the  arm  of  a 
gentleman  who  was  leaning  back  against  a  crim 
son  cushion.  Raoul  saw  him  start  angrily;  in 
one  glance  the  boy  took  in  the  carved  and  gilded 
tritons  and  mermaids  that  were  wreathed  about 
the  bow  and  sides  of  the  barge,  the  bright  shirts 
of  the  rowers,  the  short  painted  oars  that  almost 
touched  the  banks  on  either  side  of  the  narrow 
waterway,  the  silken  flag  with  the  Fleur-de-lis 
hanging  from  the  staff  in  the  stern,  and  the  ter 
rified  expression  on  the  faces  of  the  barge's  occu 
pants,  who  did  not  at  first  understand  whence 


10  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

had  come  the  missile  which  had  so  disloyally 
touched  the  arm  of  his  Majesty,  King  Louis! 

Raoul  did  not  need  to  be  told  who  it  was. 
Though  he  had  never  seen  the  King,  his  features 
were  familiar  from  pictures,  statues  and  coins. 
He  was  too  frightened  to  move  or  to  speak. 
Stories  he  had  heard  of  men  who  had  languished 
in  prison  for  years  for  crimes  attempted  against 
the  King's  person  flashed  through  his  mind. 

A  whistle  blown  from  the  barge  brought  a 
guard  running  from  some  nearby  post  in  one  of 
the  avenues.  At  a  word  shouted  from  the  boat, 
he  laid  his  hand  heavily  on  Raoul's  shoulder.  In 
the  meantime  the  barge  had  pulled  up  to  the 
float,  and  after  the  rowers  had  sprung  on  it,  the 
King,  followed  by  half  a  dozen  gentlemen, 
stepped  from  the  boat  and  then  to  the  sward. 

"Was  it  you  who  flung  the  stone?"  questioned 
angrily  the  oldest  and  sternest  of  the  courtiers, 
whose  whole  aspect  and  tone  proclaimed  the 
man  of  law.  Raoul's  "yes"  was  almost  inaud 
ible,  and  it  was  scarcely  spoken  before  another 
of  the  courtiers  exclaimed: 

"Pardon,  Sire,  but  it  is  my  brother.  I  pray 
you  to  forgive  his  offense  for  the  sake  of  the 
loyalty  I  bear  you." 

King  Louis  looked  at  Raoul  and  then  at  his 
brother.  Then  he  spoke  and  his  manner  and 


AT  THE  KING'S  COURT  11 

words  conveyed  to  the  boy  an  impression  of  of 
fended  majesty  which  made  him  feel  that  he  could 
never  bear  to  have  the  King  look  at  him  again; 
and  to  Gervais  de  Larnac  the  same  words  and 
tone  were  the  expression  of  an  unhoped-for 
measure  of  royal  clemency. 

"It  would  be  strange,  Sieur  de  Larnac,"  said 
Louis,  "if  a  child's  heedlessness  could  make  us 
forget  the  services  his  family  has  rendered  the 
Crown.  Let  him  go  free,"  he  commanded  the 
guard.  "And,  gentlemen,  now  dispose  of  your 
time  as  you  will  since  the  Count  of  Savoie  has 
an  audience  with  us.  We  will  see  you  later  in  the 
evening." 

The  gentlemen  bowed  low  while  Louis  of 
France,  the  greatest  king  in  the  world,  walked 
majestically  up  the  avenue.  Then  they  scat 
tered  in  different  directions,  with  different  pur 
poses. 

Raoul  still  stood  motionless,  his  head  bent. 
Gervais  de  Larnac  spoke  in  a  quiet  voice  that 
yet  was  full  of  anger:  "I  brought  you  here  for 
your  pleasure,  Raoul,  and  because  I  had 
planned  for  your  future  with  the  hope  that  the 
King  might  some  time  be  aware  of  your  exis 
tence  and  that  it  might  come  about  that  he 
would  give  you  some  rich  benefice  so  that  you 


12  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

might  become  a  great  churchman.  Now  you 
have  spoiled  this  plan,  even  if  you  have  not  in 
jured  me  in  his  eyes,  for  kings  do  not  like  to  be 
hit,  even  if  it  be  by  heedless  children.  Come," 
he  continued  as  Raoul  did  not  speak,  "come  to 
my  room  and  remain  there  until  I  send  you 
back  to-morrow  to  your  school." 

He  took  Raoul  by  the  arm  and  started 
towards  the  palace.  One  of  the  King's  guests 
on  the  barge  who  had  walked  ahead  now  stopped 
for  them.  "Monsieur  de  Larnac,"  he  said,  "par 
don  me  if  I  am  interfering  with  family  disci 
pline,  but  I  crave  your  permission  to  hold  a 
short  conversation  with  your  brother.  Will  you 
leave  him  to  me  awhile?" 

De  Larnac  smiled.  He  was  in  reality  a  very 
agreeable  person  except  when  he  had  reason  to 
fear  that  his  prospects  at  court  might  be  in 
jured.  The  other's  manner  made  him  realize 
that  he  might  be  considered  to  be  attribut 
ing  too  much  importance  to  a  boy's  awkward 
ness. 

"I  grant  your  request  with  all  my  heart,  Mon 
sieur  de  La  Salle,"  he  answered.  "There  will 
be  no  dungeon  here,  though  Raoul  may  consider 
his  school  one  to-morrow.  I  have  so  far  forgiven 
him  that  I  will  even  permit  him  to  see  all  that  he 
may  of  the  ceremonies  of  the  evening,  pro- 


AT  THE  KING'S  COURT  13 

vided,"  here  he  turned  to  his  brother,  "that  you 
do  not  let  His  Majesty  catch  another  glimpse  of 
you." 

After  this  he  strolled  off,  humming  the  tune 
of  a  new  madrigal,  his  brown  hair  curling  in 
perfection,  his  short  mustache  high  up  under 
the  nostrils  in  the  latest  fashion,  and  his  red- 
heeled  shoes,  his  satin  doublet  and  full  trousers 
of  sage  green  and  his  cream-colored  laces,  as 
much  a  part  of  the  landscape  as  if  the  head 
gardener  had  planted  him  and  watched  him 
grow. 

Raoul  would  have  liked  to  accompany  him; 
he  did  not  know  what  this  stranger  wanted  and 
would  have  been  glad  to  escape.  But  the  man 
led  the  way  without  speaking  to  a  small  arbor 
or  garden  house  built  in  the  form  of  a  round 
classic  temple,  and  seating  himself  on  one  of  the 
three  marble  steps  which  led  up  to  it,  motioned 
the  boy  to  sit  beside  him. 

"Do  not  fear  that  I  have  aught  to  ask  of  you," 
he  said.  "It  was  the  sight  of  your  black  robe 
which  brought  back  my  own  youth,  for  I  too 
wore  one  for  years  and  like  you,  looked  forward 
to  a  life  in  the  priesthood." 

Raoul  knew  that  he  had  heard  this  firm  voice 
before,  yet  could  not  place  it. 

"I  have  a  great  devotion  to  the  Church,"  con- 


14  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

tinned  the  man,  "and  I  have  known  many  splen 
did  priests,  but  I  was  not  meant  to  be  one.  You 
are  of  Brittany,  though,  and  you  Bretons  are 
more  religious  than  we  of  Normandy.  Did  you 
chose  your  vocation  yourself?" 

"No,"  answered  Raoul ;  "there  was  nothing 
else.  My  parents  are  dead;  my  eldest  brother 
Rene  is  a  soldier,  and  our  small  estate  is  only 
large  enough  to  support  him  and  my  brother 
Gervais,  whom  you  know.  And  besides,  the  De 
Larnacs  have  always  given  a  son  to  the  Church." 
"And  you  plan  to  be  a  great  churchman?" 
continued  the  man.  "Perhaps  this  visit  to  the 
court — is  it  your  first?"  (the  boy  nodded)  — 
"has  awakened  in  you  the  ambition  to  become  a 
court  preacher,  to  make  the  King  and  his  nobles 
listen  to  your  impassioned  words;  perhaps  even 
to  become  a  great  cardinal  like  Mazarin  or  Rich 
elieu,  and  to  rule  France.  There  are  many 
kinds  of  ambition,"  he  added  thoughtfully. 

"No,"  said  Raoul.  "I  am  not  fitted  for  such 
a  life.  I  wish  there  were  brave  deeds  required 
of  a  priest  as  in  the  old  days  of  the  martyrs." 

"Have  you  never  heard  of  the  bravery  and 
sufferings  of  the  missionaries  who  have  gone  to 
the  New  World  in  order  to  save  the  souls  of  the 
Indians?"  asked  the  man. 


AT  THE  KING'S  COURT  15 

The  word  "Indians"  cleared  up  suddenly  in 
RaouFs  brain  the  dim  associations  he  had  with 
his  companion's  voice.  Now  he  knew  that  this 
man  was  one  of  the  two  he  had  overheard  talking 
behind  the  hedge. 

"Oh,  tell  me  of  them,"  he  begged,  "tell  me  of 
life  in  New  France.  Forgive  me  that  I  listened 
when  you  and  the  foreigner  were  discussing 
your  plans  this  afternoon.  I  could  not  leave,  I 
was  so  eager  to  hear  them." 

"There  is  nothing  to  forgive,"  the  other 
answered,  "and  now  there  is  no  longer  need  to 
keep  silence  about  our  plans.  The  King  has 
graciously  granted  all  that  I  have  asked.  Our 
expedition  is  assured,  and  Henri  de  Tonty, 
whom  you  heard,  a  brave  and  generous  Italian 
who  lost  his  hand  by  a  grenade  in  the  wars  with 
Sicily,  goes  with  me." 

"Oh,  if  I  were  a  man  and  a  soldier,"  ex 
claimed  Raoul,  clasping  his  hands  around  his 
knees  and  pulling  on  them  until  the  knuckles 
cracked,  "I  would  plead  with  you  so  that  you 
would  have  to  take  me.  Tell  me,  Seigneur  de 
La  Salle, — for  'tis  so  you  are  called,  is  it  not? — is 
there  no  place  in  the  King's  province  overseas 
for  one  who  would  learn  to  be  a  missionary?  I 
would  fain  save  heathen  souls,  and  since  I  have 


16     WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

been  listening  to  you  I  have  made  up  my  mind 
that  it  is  not  as  an  abbe  or  a  bishop  that  I  shall 
serve  the  Church,  but  as  a  missionary.  Yet, 
how  can  I  wait  to  see  the  woods  and  Indians 
whereof  you  tell  until  I  have  studied  so  many 
years  here  in  school?  Is  there  no  seminary 
yonder  where  they  would  train  me?" 

This  was  doubtless  the  longest  speech  the  boy 
had  ever  in  his  life  made  to  one  of  his  elders, 
but  his  eagerness  gave  him  courage.  Suddenly 
he  saw  clearly  what  he  wanted  to  do,  and  he 
felt  that  he  must  make  the  other  understand  and 
help  him.  La  Salle  reflected  awhile  and  then 
answered:  "That  were  indeed  possible  if  you 
are  old  enough  to  know  what  you  really  desire 
and  if  your  brothers  and  your  teachers  would 
give  their  consent." 

"Will  you  not  speak  for  me,  Sir?"  Raoul's 
eyes  were  as  beseeching  as  those  of  a  dog.  "I 
know  not  in  truth  why  you  have  been  so  kind 
as  to  waste  on  a  lad  in  disgrace  an  hour  you 
might  be  spending  with  the  greatest  in  the  land; 
but  if  you  would  only  go  further  in  your  kind 
ness  and  help  me  to  begin  the  vocation  I  feel  is 
mine!" 

"I  scarce  know  why  I  did  seek  you  out," 
answered  La  Salle,  "except  that  the  sight  of 
your  melancholy  faoe  and  your  black  robe  made 


LA  SALLE  ANSWERED,  "THAT  WERE  INDEED  POSSIBLE  IF 
You  ARE  OLD  ENOUGH  TO  KNOW  WHAT  You 
REALLY  DESIRE." 


AT  THE  KING'S  COURT  17 

me  think  of  my  own  childhood.  You  seemed 
to  me  like  a  spring  bubbling  up  in  a  marshy 
spot,  choked  with  stones  and  leaves,  and  I  felt 
a  strange  urge  to  see  if  I  could  not  clear  a  bed 
for  the  stream  to  flow  through.  Somehow  you 
reminded  me  of  a  river's  beginning,  and  rivers 
and  their  wanderings  have  always  held  my 
fancy."  He  brought  back  his  thoughts  that 
seemed  suddenly  to  have  journeyed  far,  and 
continued:  "If  you  desire,  I  will  speak  to  your 
brothers  and  will  tell  them  that,  should  they  be 
disposed  to  grant  your  request,  it  would  give 
me  pleasure  to  take  you  with  me  to  Canada  and 
to  see  you  transferred  to  a  school  there  where 
you  can  be  prepared  for  the  life  you  say  that 
you  have  chosen.  Come,"  and  he  rose  to  avoid 
the  gratitude  the  boy  was  trying  to  put  into 
words,  "come,  or  I  shall  be  late  for  His  Majes 
ty's  table,  to  which  he  has  graciously  bidden  me 
this  evening.  And  you  must  not  fail  to  see  all 
the  splendor  of  the  ceremonies.  The  picture  of 
it  all  is  pleasant  to  think  about  when  I  am  alone 
in  the  wilderness.  Weigh  it  all  well,  lad,  the 
ease  here  that  can  be  yours  if  you  will,  against 
the  privations,  the  dangers,  the  martyrdom,  per 
chance,  of  the  life  yonder." 


CHAPTER  II 

QUEBEC 

VERSAILLES  and  its  summer  glories  had 
faded  into  the  past,  and  sometimes  Raoul 
wondered  if  what  he  had  seen  there  had  not  been 
a  dream.  Even  the  memory  of  France  was  be 
coming  blurred — his  surroundings  were  so  dif 
ferent  in  this  New  World  that  the  ocean  seemed 
to  have  cut  him  off  from  his  old  life. 

"Waste  not  so  much  time  at  yon  window, 
Raoul,"  Father  Hippolyte  said,  tapping  the 
boy  on  the  shoulder.  "I'll  warrant  you  cannot 
recite  the  psalm  I  gave  you  in  penance  for  yes 
terday's  idleness." 

"I  would,"  exclaimed  Raoul,  "that  zeal  were 
all  that  a  missionary  required,  and  that  I  did 
not  have  need  to  study  so  long  before  I  set  out 
to  follow  humbly  in  the  steps  of  Father  Jogues 
and  Father  Raymbault,  of  whose  splendid  deeds 
among  the  savages  you  have  told  me." 

18 


QUEBEC  19 

"If  they  had  not  spent  so  many  hours  in 
study,  do  you  think  they  could  have  converted 
the  Indians?"  questioned  the  priest.  "Remem 
ber,  boy,  your  ambition  must  not  be  to  save  the 
souls  of  the  heathen  only,  but  to  advance  the 
power  of  our  Order.  There  is  no  place  among 
the  Jesuits  for  a  fool  or  for  one  who  will  not 
learn.  See,  therefore,  that  you  waste  no  more 
time  in  gazing  out  of  windows  at  scenes  that  are 
new  to  you.  Indians,  trappers,  soldiers,  even 
the  Governor  himself,  should  be  as  nothing  com 
pared  with  your  breviary  or  Lives  of  the  Saints. 
'Tis  by  concentration  only  that  your  errant 
mind  will  be  brought  to  discipline,  and  not  until 
that  is  as  trained  as  a  steed  to  harness  will  we  let 
you  go  forth  to  train  others." 

When  Father  Hippolyte  had  left,  Raoul  en 
deavored  to  obey  his  command  and  to  keep  his 
mind  upon  the  Latin  words.  But  a  bugle  call 
from  without  drew  him  once  again  to  the  win 
dow.  A  troop  of  soldiers  was  passing;  the  brisk 
Canadian  autumn  wind  blew  their  flag  so  that  it 
flapped  in  the  face  of  the  standard-bearer  and 
reddened  the  cheeks  of  men  who  had  lately 
landed  from  France  and  were  not  yet  grown 
accustomed  to  the  sharpness  of  air  on  the  ex 
posed  cliff.  When  they  had  passed  Raoul  still 
stood  gazing  there  out  at  the  view  which  so  fas- 


20  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

cinated  him.  By  craning  his  neck,  he  could  see 
a  number  of  buildings  of  the  upper  part  of  Que 
bec;  the  Castle  of  St.  Louis,  from  which  floated 
the  Royal  Standard  of  France,  the  Fort,  the 
Hotel  Dieu  and  the  Court  House.  Below  him 
was  the  river  and  beyond,  on  the  other  side,  the 
dark  woods  which  he  had  beheld  in  his  dreams 
that  day  in  Versailles.  The  corridors  of  the 
seminary  here  differed  little  from  his  school 
corridors  in  France;  the  daily  routine  of  lessons 
and  prayers  was  much  the  same,  and  he  was  dis 
appointed  to  discover  that  he  was  almost  as  far 
from  the  free  adventurous  life  of  the  frontier  as 
when  he  first  heard  of  it  the  day  he  listened  to 
La  Salle  and  Tonty.  But  when  he  was  allowed 
to  go  out  into  the  bustling  life  of  Quebec,  or 
when  he  looked  down  on  it  from  the  window,  he 
was  content.  He  was  the  only  boy  of  his  age 
in  the  school;  the  other  students  being  much  old 
er  and  graver,  and  as  he  had  no  companions,  he 
had  much  time  for  thought.  There  were  hours 
when  he  was  almost  happy  alone  in  the  chapel, 
when  his  fancy  would  picture  St.  Stephen  in  his 
martyrdom  or  other  saints  who  had  suffered  and 
died  for  the  faith.  He  would  wonder  whether 
he  too  would  be  brave  if  a  similar  fate  should  be 
his,  and  his  heart  would  beat  with  a  delicious 


QUEBEC  21 

fear.  Heaven  seemed  at  times  near  to  the  lonely 
boy,  and  very  real. 

Yet  these  hours  were  rarer  than  the  other 
hours  of  restlessness,  of  a  kind  of  mute  rebellion 
against  his  semi-imprisonment.  He  wondered 
what  had  become  of  La  Salle,  who  had  bidden 
him  farewell  as  soon  as  their  voyage  was  over 
and  he  had  placed  his  young  charge  safely  in  the 
hands  of  the  head  of  the  seminary.  Was  it  like 
ly,  he  questioned  himself,  that  he  would  ever  see 
him  again,  at  least  before  he  was  grown?  He 
would  give  so  much  to  know  what  he  was  doing, 
and  to  know  more  of  what  he  hoped  to  do;  for 
though  he  had  had  little  talk  with  him  on  ship 
board,  Raoul  had  only  to  look  at  him  to  be  cer 
tain  that  there  was  some  deep  purpose  which 
underlay  all  his  actions.  One  of  the  older  stu 
dents  had  said  of  him:  "All  he  wishes  is  to 
make  a  fortune  out  of  pelts;  that  is  the  desire 
of  every  settler."  But  Raoul's  lip  had  curled  in 
scorn  for  one  who  could  read  no  farther  beneath 
the  surface.  He  knew  that  La  Salle  was  a 
dreamer  even  as  he  himself  was.  But  what  his 
dream  was — that  he  still  waited  to  learn. 

The  sound  of  footsteps  made  him  turn  hur 
riedly  from  the  window  and  pick  up  his  book 
which  had  been  lying  forgotten  on  the  stone 
floor  for  the  past  half  hour,  and  his  lips  were  re- 


22  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

citing  the  psalm  when  Father  Hippolyte  re-en 
tered  the  corridor.  With  him  was  another 
priest,  who  wore  a  heavy  mantle  and  carried  in 
his  hand  a  case  filled  with  medicines  and  surgi 
cal  appliances. 

"Can  you  manage  a  boat,  Raoul?"  asked 
Father  Hippolyte.  "Pere  Antoine  is  called  to 
attend  one  of  our  tenants  in  the  woods  who  has 
been  injured.  There  is  no  one  here  who  is  free 
to  accompany  him  to-day,  so  if  you  can  help 
him  with  the  boat  you  may  go." 

"I  am  a  Breton,  Father,"  answered  Raoul 
proudly,  "and  I  have  pulled  a  boat  since  I  was 
five."  ' 

"Then  go  and  get  ready;  and  forget  not  to 
take  your  warm  cape,"  the  priest  commanded, 
"for  the  evenings  now  are  cold  and  perchance 
you  will  have  to  spend  the  night  in  the  forest." 

Raoul  was  overjoyed  to  escape  out  of  doors 
and  at  the  chance  of  nearing  the  wilderness 
which  had  called  him  so  long.  He  did  not  even 
mind  hurrying  through  the  streets  in  which  at 
another  time  he  would  have  been  so  eager  to 
loiter.  There  was  so  much  to  be  seen:  soldiers 
off  duty  swaggering  about,  gentlemen  talking 
together  outside  of  the  Castle,  Ursuline  nuns  in 
their  high-peaked  headgear,  and  here  and  there 
a  few  ladies  and  children.  As  they  descended 


QUEBEC  23 

the  steep  street  to  the  lower  town  the  crowd  was 
even  more  varied.  There  were  merchants  bar 
gaining  with  trappers  and  Indians  for  skins  of 
beaver  and  fox,  their  shoulders  piled  high  with 
pelts  already  purchased.  Here  were  fishermen 
with  strings  of  fish  swinging  from  their  poles, 
and  farmers  from  the  banks  of  the  St.  Charles 
with  baskets  of  pearly  onions  and  golden  maize. 
It  was  difficult  to  realize,  thought  Raoul,  re 
membering  some  of  the  facts  that  he  had  been 
told,  that  this  important,  active  city  of  Quebec 
had  been  founded  only  sixty  years  before  by  the 
great  Champlain. 

When  they  reached  the  river's  edge  Pere  An- 
toine  spoke  for  the  first  time:  "Go  into  yonder 
cabin  and  tell  Xavier,  the  boatman,  that  I  am 
waiting." 

Raoul  entered  the  low  hut,  that  smelled  strong 
ly  of  fish  and  tobacco,  and  was  obliged  to  rouse 
the  sleeping  boatman. 

"I  will  go,"  he  answered  drowsily,  "but  only 
part  of  the  way,  for  I  must  be  back  here  two 
days  from  now.  From  then  on  you  and  the 
Father  must  manage  alone.  You  look  a  husky 
lad,  if  you  are  a  priestling,  and  it  will  do  you 
good  to  be  working  your  arms  as  well  as  bending 
your  knees  forever  in  the  chapel." 

While  he  was  holding  the  boat  for  the  priest 


24  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

to  enter  Raoul  gazed  at  it  in  amazement.  It 
was  a  canoe,  and  he  had  never  seen  one  close  by, 
though  from  the  window  he  had  watched  them 
pass  on  the  river.  Its  birchbark  sides  were  so 
thin  that  he  feared  to  punch  a  hole  in  them  with 
his  foot,  and  he  stepped  into  it  as  gingerly  as  a 
cat  into  a  puddle.  The  paddle  which  Xavier 
handed  him  before  he  himself  sprang  lightly  in 
to  the  stern  was  unlike  any  oar  he  had  ever 
handled.  The  river  was  so  wide  and  so  rapid 
that  it  seemed  to  him  as  if  so  frail  a  craft  could 
never  make  its  way  through  all  the  rough  water. 
But  the  training  of  a  sailor  came  to  his  aid,  and 
by  turning  every  now  and  then  to  Xavier,  Raoul 
was  soon  able  to  dip  his  paddle  in  rhythm  with 
the  boatsman's.  He  was  too  much  occupied 
with  his  work  to  notice  his  surroundings.  The 
exercise  and  the  fresh  air  set  his  veins  a-tingle, 
and  he  was  happier  than  he  had  been  for  many 
a  day. 

After  a  number  of  hours  they  turned  into  a 
narrower  river.  They  rested  for  part  of  the 
night,  then  when  the  moon  rose  went  onward 
again.  All  around  were  trees,  golden  and  red, 
of  every  shade.  Here  and  there  a  clearing 
showed  tilled  fields  and  a  hut,  and  once  a  saw 
mill  that  was  almost  barricaded  by  logs  await 
ing  its  knife.  Xavier  would  call  out  the  names 


QUEBEC  25 

of  the  owners,  and  would  break  the  silence  with 
song,  songs  of  the  woods,  songs  of  soldiers,  love 
songs  of  France,  new  songs  that  were  to  be  old 
songs  a  century  or  more  later.  Raoul  too  would 
have  liked  to  sing,  but  when  once  he  joined  in 
the  chorus,  Pere  Antoine's  voice  rose,  chanting 
a  hymn,  and  Raoul  stopped,  conscious  that  for 
a  future  priest  he  had  been  indulging  in  un 
seemly  behavior.  Now  and  then  Xavier  would 
call  out  some  instruction  to  him  regarding  his 
management  of  the  paddle,  and  after  a  while  he 
made  Raoul  take  his  place  in  the  stern  and  pilot 
the  canoe 

It  was  an  hour  before  sunset  that  they 
stopped.  "I  must  return  now,  reverend 
Father,"  said  Xavier,  bringing  the  canoe  inshore. 
"I  have  business  this  night  that  cannot  be  ne 
glected."  He  drew  from  a  loosely  constructed 
shed  a  smaller  canoe  and  motioned  to  the  others 
to  step  into  it.  "This  will  take  you  the  rest  of 
the  way  to  Jean  Dubois.  The  stream  is  not  heavy 
now  and  you  should  reach  there  before  dark. 
Only  forget  not  the  rapids  half  way  up  and  keep 
well  to  the  right  bank.  They  are  very  danger 
ous  otherwise." 

Raoul  would  giadly  have  taken  his  place  in 
the  stern,  but  Pere  Antoine  waved  him  to  stay 
where  he  was,  and  they  set  off  in  silence.  The 


26  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

canoe  was  lighter  than  Xavier's  boat  but  their 
progress  was  much  slower.  Raoul  could  see  that 
the  priest  was  little  of  a  boatman  and  that  he 
was  not  able  to  keep  the  canoe  to  a  steady 
course.  Once  he  ventured  to  suggest  that  they 
get  out  and  carry  the  canoe  when  they  ap 
proached  the  rapids,  but  Pere  Antoine  bade  him 
be  silent.  He  longed  to  ask  questions  about  the 
country  they  were  journeying  through,  whether 
it  was  safe  from  Indian  raids,  whether  there 
were  wild  beasts  in  its  forests,  and  many  other 
things  he  was  curious  about.  He  saw,  however, 
that  the  priest's  thoughts  were  far  away,  that 
his  lips  were  moving  in  prayer,  and  that  he  was 
scarcely  conscious  of  his  surroundings. 

This  was  evidently  the  reason  why,  when  they 
approached  the  rapids,  Pere  Antoine  did  not  re 
member  to  follow  Xavier's  instructions  to  keep 
to  the  right  bank.  Suddenly  the  bow  of  the 
boat  was  twisted  sharply  about,  and  though 
Raoul,  seeing  the  danger  in  which  they  were, 
bent  all  his  strength  to  pull  it  back  towards  the 
bank,  it  was  too  late.  The  rushing  white  water 
was  upon  them  and  it  tossed  the  canoe  on  to  a 
sharp  rock  in  midcurrent  that  gashed  a  long 
rent  across  its  side.  The  two  occupants  were 
borne  by  the  rapids  against  the  rocks  over  which 
it  threw  them.  Raoul  struggled  to  keep  up,  for 


QUEBEC  27 

he  had  always  been  at  home  in  the  water;  but 
his  force  was  not  equal  to  the  combat.  Just  be 
fore  his  head  was  pummeled  against  a  boulder 
and  he  lost  consciousness,  he  stretched  out  his 
hand  to  try  to  catch  the  long  robe  of  Pere  An- 
toine  as  it  floated  past  him. 

It  was  almost  dark  when  Raoul  opened  his 
eyes  and  tried  to  recall  what  had  happened.  His 
head  felt  very  heavy  and  he  had  no  inclination 
to  move.  After  a  while  he  put  out  his  hand  and 
touched  the  sharp  points  of  pine  needles.  The 
roar  of  the  rapids  told  him  that  he  was  not  far 
from  the  river.  He  was  conscious  that  he  was 
very  cold  and  that,  in  addition  to  being  wet,  he 
had  not  many  clothes  on.  The  rocks  and  rapids 
had  stripped  him  of  his  robe  and  his  stockings. 
A  sudden  light  in  front  of  him  made  him  start. 
Someone  was  building  a  fire,  and  against  the 
last  glow  that  lingered  in  the  sunset  sky  he  saw 
a  figure  stooping  over  a  flame  of  twigs  which 
blazed  up  brightly.  The  thought  of  the  warmth 
made  him  eager  to  rise,  but  he  felt  too  sore  and 
bewildered.  Then  he  remembered  the  canoe, 
Pere  Antoine,  the  rapids  and  the  cruel  rocks. 
He  did  not  know  whether  he  might  have  escaped 
them  only  to  encounter  worse  dangers.  He  had 
heard  so  many  tales  of  savages  that  the  thought 


28  WITH  LA  SALLE   THE  EXPLORER 

of  them  came  quickly  to  his  mind.  However,  he 
decided,  no  matter  what  might  be  going  to  hap 
pen  he  must  get  warm  first,  so  he  rose  slowly  and 
painfully  and  made  his  way  towards  the  now 
roaring  fire.  To  his  astonishment  as  he  ap 
proached  it,  he  saw  that  the  figure  stooping  to 
pick  up  more  sticks  to  feed  it  was  that  of  a  girl, 
and  a  white  girl  at  that.  He  was  tempted  to 
run.  He  had  scarcely  spoken  to  a  girl  in  his 
life.  There  had  been  no  sister  in  his  home,  and 
of  course  no  woman  in  his  life  since  he  entered 
his  school.  But  it  was  too  late;  she  had  turned 
and  seen  him  and  now  came  running  towards 
him. 

"Come,"  she  cried,  "and  get  warm.  I  meant 
to  rouse  you  as  soon  as  I  had  the  fire  burning, 
but  you  did  not  wait  for  me." 

Raoul  came  as  close  to  the  flame  as  he  could 
get,  conscious  at  the  same  time  of  its  delicious 
warmth  and  of  his  own  shoeless,  stockingless 
condition.  It  seemed  discourteous  not  to  speak, 
so  he  forced  himself  to  ask:  "Can  you  tell  me 
how  I  happen  to  be  alive?  Is  Pere  Antoine 
also  saved?" 

"So  it  was  he?"  the  girl  cried  out.  "I  saw  a 
white  face  and  a  long  black  robe  go  down  below 
there  into  the  lower  rapids,  and  no  man  can  live 
through  them.  You  were  tossed  by  an  eddy  on 


QUEBEC  29 

to  the  beach  and  I  pulled  you  up  to  the  bank, 
and  when  I  had  discovered  that  you  were  not 
dead  I  knew  that  you  would  perish  unless  you 
could  get  warm  soon.  Is  it  better  now?" 

Raoul  nodded.  "How  did  you  happen  to  be 
here?"  he  asked. 

"It  was  my  father  who  sent  to  the  seminary 
for  a  priest  to  come  to  dress  his  wound.  I 
thought  1  would  go  to  the  landing  so  as  to  show 
the  Father  the  shortest  way  to  our  house,  and 
then  as  I  was  walking  I  saw  your  canoe  and 
what  happened.  I  am  Denise  Dubois." 

The  firelight  played  on  her  brown  hair  and 
sturdy  little  body,  and  repeated  its  own  tones 
in  her  russet  gown  and  bright  red  knitted  worst 
ed  stockings.  The  spot  was  so  lonely  and  she 
so  small  that  Raoul  could  not  help  exclaiming: 
"And  do  you  not  fear  to  roam  the  woods  thus  at 
night?  Are  there  not  savages  and  wild  beasts 
in  its  depths?" 

She  laughed.  "No,  I  have  no  fear;  see,  here 
is  my  good  knife."  And  she  pulled  a  big  case 
knife  from  her  "nun's  pocket"  beneath  her  skirt 
and  opened  it  with  a  look  of  pride.  But  quick 
ly  her  expression  changed  as  she  saw  that  Raoul 
was  trembling  with  cold.  "Come,"  she  said; 
"take  my  hand  and  run.  It  will  be  better  for 


30  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

you  to  get  under  cover  now,  and  moreover,  my 
mother  will  be  worrying." 

Raoul  experienced  a  certain  boyish  reluctance 
to  entrust  himself  to  a  girl's  guidance,  but  he 
knew  that  without  it  he  would  have  been  com 
pletely  lost.  They  ran  through  a  bit  of  the  for 
est,  then  through  open  land  where  he  could  see 
dim  forms  of  stacked  cornshucks,  over  a  little 
bridge  beneath  which  whirled  a  swift  narrow 
stream,  and  then  the  light  from  a  window  shone 
through  the  chinks  of  the  palisade.  As  Denise 
flung  open  the  heavy  oaken  door  Raoul  saw  into 
a  large  room  with  a  huge  fire  burning  on  the 
deep  hearth.  Hams  and  sausages  and  ropes  of 
onions  dangled  from  the  dark  beams  overhead, 
and  bright  pewter  vessels  shone  on  the  shelves 
of  the  dresser;  a  spinning-wheel  stood  in  the 
corner,  and  two  large  dogs  lay  before  the  fire; 
and  everywhere,  on  chairs  and  stools,  were  peo 
ple,  so  many  he  couldn't  at  first  count  them. 

"Where  is  Pere  Antoine?"  asked  a  woman 
anxiously. 

"He  is  drowned,  my  mother,"  answered  De 
nise.  "And  this,  his  companion,  barely  saved  his 
life.  He  has  need  of  warmth  and  food." 

No  further  questions  were  asked  or  words 
wasted.  Mother  Dubois  kicked  the  dogs  gently 
to  make  them  resign  their  places  to  the  stranger. 


QUEBEC  31 

Raoul,  after  bowing  to  her,  accepted  the  stool 
she  placed  for  him  and  soon  was  drinking  a  bowl 
of  hot  soup  which  with  a  long  ladle  she  drew 
from  a  pot  on  the  fire.  While  he  drank  he  lis 
tened  to  Denise's  account  of  the  accident,  and 
gradually  he  made  out  that  all  those  present 
were  members  of  her  family :  an  old  grandfather 
still  hale  and  hearty,  two  young  aunts,  Mere 
Dubois,  three  small  boys  younger  than  Denise, 
and  an  older  brother  of  about  seventeen.  And, 
in  an  alcove  he  had  not  first  noticed,  lay  Jean 
Dubois,  whose  leg  had  been  nearly  severed  by 
his  own  ax. 

It  was  a  homelike  scene  and  Raoul,  though  his 
head  and  back  still  ached,  now  that  he  was 
warmed  and  fed,  could  enjoy  it.  It  reminded 
him  of  some  of  the  farmhouses  he  had  often 
visited  in  Brittany,  where,  as  one  of  the  young 
noblemen  from  the  castle,  he  had  always  been 
welcome. 

"What  is  the  news  in  Quebec,  young  sir?" 
called  Jean,  his  voice  strong  indeed  for  a 
wounded  man. 

Raoul  approached  his  bed  and  sitting  by  his 
side,  told  him  the  odds  and  ends  of  news  which 
had  come  to  his  ears. 

"The  fathers  at  the  seminary  hold  this  land," 
said  the  honest  habitant,  "and  I  must  pay  them 


32  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

each  year  in  rent  some  bags  of  meal  and  fish.  It 
is  little  yet  that  one  can  grow  in  fields  where  one 
must  carry  gun  as  well  as  hoe,  yet  I  have  not 
failed  to  harvest  enough  each  year  to  feed  all 
these  hungry  mouths,  have  I,  Rosette?"  he  asked 
his  wife. 

"We  have  prospered  indeed,  my  man,"  she 
answered,  and  her  tone  spoke  of  quiet  affection 
as  she  leaned  over  and  rearranged  the  covers. 
"You  must  perforce  now  content  yourself  with 
my  ministrations  since  good  Pere  Antoine,  God 
rest  his  soul,  is  gone.  It  is  well  that  the  leg 
had  begun  to  mend  just  after  we  sent  for  him." 

"Are  there  savages  nearby?"  questioned 
Raoul,  when  she  had  gone  back  to  her  spinning- 
wheel.  "I  am  but  lately  come  from  France,  and 
in  truth  I  will  confess  that  I  have  great  curios 
ity  about  this  new  land." 

"Jacques  can  tell  you  tales  all  day  long  of  the 
Indians,"  declared  Denise,  who  was  lying  on  the 
floor,  her  head  on  the  back  of  one  of  the  dogs. 

"Oh!  yes,  if  you  want  to  hear  them,"  assented 
her  older  brother.  He  then  began  to  relate  stor 
ies  of  Indian  raids,  of  the  massacre  at  Ville  Ma 
rie,  and  told  of  his  own  experiences  with  Indians 
as  traders  of  furs,  and  even  of  his  visit  to  one  of 
the  distant  missions  to  the  Hurons.  Raoul 


QUEBEC  33 

listened  eagerly,  and  when  a  log  shot  out  a  spark 
with  a  loud  report  he  jumped  nervously. 

"He  thinks  the  redmen  are  without,"  laughed 
Denise. 

"  "Tis  no  matter  to  laugh  at,  foolish  child," 
said  her  mother,  "though,  praise  God,  we  are 
spared  that  horror.  But  no  more  to-night,  Jac 
ques,  the  young  seigneur  must  go  to  bed." 

Though  Raoul  had  said  nothing  of  himself 
except  that  he  was  studying  to  be  a  priest,  Ro 
sette's  intuition  had  told  her  that  he  was  a  noble. 
She  bade  Jacques  make  room  for  him  on  his  own 
pallet,  and  before  she  went  to  bed  herself  she 
tiptoed  to  the  side  of  the  sleeping  boys  to  throw 
an  extra  coverlet  over  their  guest. 

And  when  her  mother  and  all  the  rest  were 
asleep,  Denise  crept  from  her  bed  and  went  to  a 
small  hole  which  had  been  bored  by  the  side  of 
the  front  door,  and  peered  out  into  the  moonlit 
night,  to  assure  herself  that  the  Indians,  about 
whom  she  had  laughed  in  the  daytime,  were  not 
now  prowling  around  the  house. 

The  two  days  which  followed  were  the  hap 
piest  Raoul  had  known  for  many  a  month. 
Clothed  in  jacket  and  hose  which  Jacques  had 
long  outgrown,  but  which  the  thrifty  Rosette 
was  keeping  for  the  babies  to  grow  into,  he  ex 
plored  the  habitant's  farm  and  its  surroundings. 


34  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

Jacques  and  Denise  made  him  free  of  their  own 
rich  knowledge  of  birds  and  beast.  He  fished 
and  threw  stones  with  no  robe  to  cumber  him, 
and  he  ate  with  a  boy's  appetite,  forgetting  the 
abstinence  enjoined  at  the  seminary. 

Jacques  promised  to  take  Raoul  back  to  Que 
bec  as  soon  as  his  father  was  able  to  be  on  his 
feet  again,  for  it  would  not  do  to  leave  the  farm 
without  an  able-bodied  man.  Raoul  was  glad  the 
kindly  habitant's  wound  was  improving,  still  he 
could  not  help  hoping  that  it  would  not  be  too 
rapid  a  recovery.  He  had  grown  accustomed 
now  to  Denise's  companionship.  She  was  so 
like  a  boy  in  her  direct,  simple  ways,  that  he  was 
no  longer  shy  with  her. 

"Come,"  she  said  to  him  the  third  morning  of 
his  stay.  "I'll  show  you  a  fox's  den  where  there 
may  be  some  little  foxes." 

"Where  are  you  bound?"  called  out  Jacques 
as  he  saw  them  skirting  the  maize  field  beyond 
the  house. 

"To  the  cave  on  the  hill  yonder,"  she  called 
back. 

"Let  that  be  the  limit,"  commanded  her  broth 
er.  "I  heard  from  Paul  Lafitte  that  some  Iro- 
quois  had  been  reported  skulking  up  the  river. 
We're  not  at  war  with  them,  you  know,"  he  con 
tinued,  in  answer  to  Raoul's  questioning  look, 


QUEBEC  35 

"nevertheless  there's  no  time  when  a  handful  of 
them  mightn't  raise  a  nice  little  war  of  their  own 
against  us.  Remember,  Denise — no  farther." 

The  two  had  climbed  nearly  to  the  top  of  the 
hill  before  they  came  to  the  den.  Its  entrance 
in  summertime  had  been  almost  concealed  by 
the  thick  bushes  which  grew  before  it.  Now  the 
first  heavy  frost  had  stripped  the  crimson  leaves 
of  the  sumac  and  left  merely  a  lattice  of 
branches.  The  two  children  crouched  down  and 
peered  in.  It  was  a  shallow  cave,  and  the  eyes 
of  the  red  vixen  looked  almost  into  their  own, 
so  that  they  instinctively  drew  back  in  fear  of 
what  she  might  do  to  protect  the  little  balls  of 
fur  that  cuddled  against  her. 

"I  must  show  that  to  Jacques  to-morrow," 
said  Denise,  leaning  in  again  as  far  as  she  dared, 
"so  that  he  can  set  a  trap  near  for  the  father 
fox.  He'll  make  me  a  fine  cap  for  the  winter." 

The  word  "winter"  brought  Raoul  back  to 
reality,  to  the  life  he  had  almost  forgotten  in  his 
three  days  of  freedom.  "In  what  direction  is 
Quebec?"  he  asked.  "Again  I  am  stupid,  and 
have  lost  the  points  of  the  compass;  the  trees 
are  so  thick." 

"Let's  climb  to  the  top  of  the  hill  and  then 
I'll  show  you — and  also  where  the  new  habi- 


36  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

tant's  house  is  to  be.  I  do  hope  he  has  children 
of  my  age  to  play  with." 

The  summit  was  an  exposed  spot  and  no  trees 
grew  there.  Raoul  felt  as  if  the  hill  must  be  like 
the  one  he  had  read  of  in  the  Bible  from  which 
Satan  showed  Jesus  all  the  kingdoms  of  the 
world.  Only  here  there  were  no  kingdoms;  it 
was  mostly  forests  that  lay  below  them,  with 
here  and  there  a  clearing  where  smoke  rising 
from  a  chimney  testified  to  the  home  of  a  habi 
tant,  or  a  stream  that  ran  to  join  the  river.  De- 
nise  pointed  out  the  spot  where  the  canoe  had 
sunk,  and  Raoul  said  an  inward  prayer  for  Pere 
Antoine's  soul.  The  farmhouse  of  the  Dubois, 
large  as  it  was,  looked  like  a  toy  thrown  down 
and  forgotten  in  the  forest.  Yet  to  Denise  it 
was  all  her  world,  the  only  world  she  knew,  and 
to  Raoul  it  was  strangely  dear.  Neither 
thought  of  what  it  represented — an  outpost  of 
France's  empire. 

Suddenly,  to  Raoul's  amazement,  Denise  dis 
appeared  down  the  far  slope  of  the  hill,  and  be 
fore  he  could  call  out  to  ask  what  had  tripped 
her,  he  felt  a  clutch  at  his  own  ankles  and  he  was 
dragged,  feet  foremost,  down  into  the  thicket. 
He  could  not  see  what  or  who  had  hold  of  him, 
until  a  large  red  hand  came  from  behind  and 
bound  a  strip  of  soft  deerskin  over  his  mouth. 


QUEBEC  37 

Denise,  he  discovered,  was  being  silenced  in  the 
same  manner.  Then  their  captors  no  longer 
made  any  attempt  to  conceal  themselves.  They 
were  two  braves,  one  perhaps  ten  years  older 
than  the  other.  Raoul  guessed,  from  what  Jac 
ques  had  told  him  of  the  Iroquois  band,  that  they 
must  belong  to  that  nation  which  had  so  often 
warred  with  the  French  and  invaded  their  terri 
tory. 

The  older  Indian  motioned,  and  the  children 
followed  in  the  footsteps  of  the  younger  brave, 
down  the  hill  which  now  rose  between  them  and 
the  house,  and  into  the  dense  forest  beyond. 


CHAPTER  III 

BUILDING  THE  GRIFFIN 

"T  PROPHESIED  to  you  truly,  friend 
A  Tonty,  did  I  not,  that  day  at  Versailles?" 
asked  La  Salle,  as  he  and  his  companion  stood 
at  the  doorway  of  the  rough  cabin  below  the 
mountain  ridge  at  Lewiston.  "I  told  you  that 
if  you  came  with  me  on  this  expedition  you  would 
encounter  cold,  Indians  and  many  dangers ;  but  I 
forgot  to  include  in  them  the  treachery  of  one's 


own  men." 


He  turned  away  before  Henri  de  Tonty  could 
answer  him,  as  if  ashamed  of  this  unusual  out 
burst  ;  and  the  Italian,  understanding  his  passion 
for  reticence,  made  no  comment  on  his  speech. 

"What  will  you  do  now,  Sieur  de  La  Salle?" 
he  asked  some  minutes  later  when  his  silence  had 
reassured  his  commander.  "With  a  wrecked 
ship  and  your  stores  and  ammunition  gone,  your 


BUILDING  THE  GRIFFIN  39 

plans  for  a  post  on  the  river  here  are  complete 
ly  destroyed." 

"I  will  build  another  ship,"  said  La  Salle, 
"and  at  once.  Come  back  with  me  here  to  the 
portage,  and  I  will  point  out  where  and  why  it  is 
of  such  importance  that  we  hold  this  point,  in 
order  that  our  great  adventure  may  not  be  jeop 
ardized  for  lack  of  a  strong  base  in  our  rear." 

To  Tonty,  brave  and  cheerful  as  he  was,  the 
situation  looked  almost  desperate.  The  ship 
which  had  borne  the  supplies  for  the  great  ex 
pedition  had  been  wrecked  because  the  pilot  had 
disobeyed  the  orders  of  La  Salle,  and  only  a 
small  proportion  of  its  fittings  and  ammunition 
had  been  saved;  La  Motte,  La  Salle's  lieuten 
ant,  who  should  have  had  everything  in  readiness 
for  La  Salle's  arrival,  had  not  known  how  to 
keep  his  men  in  order,  even  if  he  were  not  guilty 
of  stirring  them  up  to  revolt,  and  now,  half- 
blinded  by  the  snow,  had  been  obliged  to  return 
to  Fort  Frontenac;  and,  in  addition  to  all  these 
troubles,  the  money  gathered  by  La  Salle  with 
so  much  difficulty  was  almost  exhausted.  The 
glamour  of  the  expedition  which  had  shone  for 
Tonty  since  his  first  talk  with  La  Salle  in 
France,  was  indeed  dimmed.  The  reality  was  so 
gray,  so  cold,  so  forlorn,  that  he  wondered  how 
his  heart  could  ever  have  beat  with  such  excite- 


40  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

ment  at  the  plan.  His  impetuous  southern 
temperament  had  been  chilled  by  all  the  misfor 
tunes  which  at  the  very  outset  had  overtaken 
them. 

As  he  strode  along  behind  the  Frenchman  on 
the  narrow  path  of  hard  packed  snow,  and 
looked  up  at  the  low-hanging,  heavy  snow-filled 
skies,  he  could  not  help  asking  himself  whether 
they  had  not  both  been  misled  by  the  will-o'-the- 
wisp  of  an  impossible  dream.  His  loyal  nature 
did  not  for  a  second  suggest  that  he  should  de 
sert  La  Salle,  even  if  this  should  be  the  case; 
he  had  given  his  word  and  he  would  never  turn 
back,  though  the  dream  should  lead  them  into 
a  morass  where  they  must  perish.  Nevertheless, 
he  longed  for  some  assurance  that  he  was  wrong, 
that  the  flame  of  enthusiasm  at  which  his  spirit 
had  taken  fire,  still  burned.  And,  as  if  he  felt 
this  need,  La  Salle  slowed  his  step  and  waited 
for  his  companion  to  catch  up  with  him. 

"The  path  is  wider  here,"  he  said,  "and  there 
is  no  danger  that  either  of  us  will  disappear  into 
the  drifts,  as  did  Father  Hennepin  yesterday." 

A  grim  smile  showed  his  enjoyment  at  the 
picture  his  memory  painted,  of  the  priest,  im 
peded  by  his  robe,  struggling  to  extricate  him 
self  from  the  soft  newly  fallen  snow. 


BUILDING  THE  GRIFFIN  41 

"Like  a  black  crow  in  a  good  wife's  kneaded 
dough,"  he  added. 

"It  is  a  dreary  scene,  Friend  Tonty,"  he  con 
tinued  as  they  strode  along  now  side  by  side ; 
"but  it  is  only  one  step  in  a  long  journey  which 
shall  lead  us  to  fame,  and  perchance  to  riches. 
My  thoughts  have  taken  this  journey  so  many 
years  that  they  cannot  be  halted  at  one  stage  of 
it,  no  matter  how  dangerous  or  troublesome  it 
may  prove;  they  know  that  the  end  shall  be 
reached  and  they  cry  out  to  me  to  hasten  on 
ward.  If  only  I  had  men  all  like  you,  we  had 
been  half  way  there  by  now." 

"But  I  too  have  doubted,"  confessed  Tonty, 
unwilling  to  sail  under  false  colors. 

"What  matters  your  doubt,"  exclaimed  La 
Salle,  "since  it  does  not  stay  your  hands,  your 
feet  nor  your  spirit  from  aiding  me?  I  would 
I  could  find  more  such  doubters." 

The  warmth  of  his  words  cheered  Tonty  as 
if  the  sun  had  begun  to  shine  again.  He  did  not 
speak,  but  laid  his  iron  hand  affectionately  on 
his  companion's  arm.  La  Salle  continued: 

"And  if  you  still  doubt  I  do  not  blame  you, 
for  I  have  enough  conviction  for  two.  Shall  I 
tell  you  how  long  I  have  planned  this  quest  of 
mine,  and  how  I  know  that  I  am  the  one  man 
who  can  carry  it  out?  It  is  for  me  because  I 


42  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

have  felt  the  call  of  it;  no. other  man  had  heard 
it,  and  no  other  man  can  follow  unless  I  lead. 
Before  I  first  left  France,  thirteen  years  ago, 
when  I  was  only  three  and  twenty,  I  knew  that 
my  fortune  awaited  me  in  the  new  world,  and 
that  it  was  not  to  be  merely  that  of  a  fur  trader 
who  would  grow  rich  and  sit  at  ease  in  Quebec. 
So  when  the  Fathers  of  St.  Sulpice,  knowing 
that  there  must  be  watchdogs  about  their  flock 
to  protect  it  from  the  savages,  granted  me  my 
seigneurie  above  the  Falls  near  Ville  Marie 
(Montreal),  I  accepted  the  trust  gladly.  I 
chose  hardy  men  for  my  settlement.  I  divided 
my  land  into  portions  which  I  rented  to  each 
of  them  for  six  deniers  and  three  fat  capons  a 
year;  I  built  a  house  for  myself  and  storehouses 
and  a  chapel,  erected  palisades  about  them,  all 
for  protection  against  the  Indians,  and  I  bought 
and  sold  furs,  and  attended  to  the  welfare  of 
my  colony.  Was  that  not  a  life  busy  enough 
for  any  man,  Tonty?" 

"You  did  not  find  it  so,"  answered  the  Ital 
ian. 

"You  are  right,"  went  on  La  Salle.  "Do  you 
know  the  name  I  gave  my  seigneurie?" 

"I  have  heard  men  call  it  'La  Chine',"  replied 
Tonty,  his  eyes  following  a  fox  that  was  scur- 


BUILDING  THE   GRIFFIN  43 

rying  along  the  bank  above  them;  "but  I  know 
not  why." 

"China  was  to  be  my  goal,"  his  friend  ex 
plained.  "In  the  long  days  when  I  gazed  west 
ward  beyond  the  lake  and  the  forests,  and  in  the 
nights  when  I  dreamed  in  front  of  my  blazing 
hearth,  I  kept  thinking  of  how  I  might  reach  the 
far  kingdoms  of  Cathay  that  lay  somewhere  to 
the  west  of  us,  and  open  to  France  the  way  to 
trade  with  them  for  their  fabulous  riches.  So 
I  called  my  place  'La  Chine'  as  a  symbol  of  my 
hopes." 

He  paused  for  a  moment  to  decide  which  of 
the  two  paths  branching  before  him  he  should 
follow. 

"During  one  of  those  long  winters  some  Sen 
eca  Indians,  drawn  by  curiosity,  I  believe,  came 
to  La  Chine  and  spent  several  months  within 
our  boundaries.  I  welcomed  them,  for  I  was 
ever  eager  to  learn  another  Indian  dialect.  And 
when  we  hunted  or  when  we  sat  about  our  fires 
they  would  talk  and  tell  of  the  deeds  of  their 
warriors  and  their  hunters.  One  day  when  the 
snow  was  beginning  to  thaw  they  spoke  of  a 
great  river  which  flowed  through  their  country. 
Once,  they  said,  some  of  their  tribe  had  set  out 
in  their  canoes  to  follow  it  to  its  mouth.  For 
eight  moons,  said  their  chief,  they  had  been 


•44  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

borne  on  its  waters  until  they  reached  a  great 
gulf,  the  'Vermilion  Sea,'  I  believe  it  must  be, 
from  whence  China — as  I  reckoned  on  a  rough 
map  I  drew  with  a  stick  in  the  snow — could  not 
be  a  far  distant  voyage.  I  have  told  you  al 
ready,  Tonty,  how  I  made  up  my  mind,  how  I 
sold  La  Chine  to  procure  money  for  my  search 
for  the  way  to  the  real  China.  I  bought  four 
canoes,  and  having  laid  in  many  supplies,  I  set 
forth  with  the  fourteen  men  I  paid  to  go  with 
me.  And  with  my  expedition  went  one  fitted 
out  by  the  Jesuits,  so  that  in  all  we  were  twen 
ty-four  men  and  seven  canoes." 

Tonty  had  listened  eagerly  to  La  Salle's  ac 
count.  The  Frenchman  lived  so  much  in  the 
future  that  it  was  generally  difficult  to  get  him 
to  talk  of  what  he  had  done  in  the  past.  Even 
now,  Tonty  perceived  that  his  thoughts  were 
growing  tired  of  their  backward  journey.  So  he 
spurred  them  on  with  the  question:  "And  then 
what  happened?" 

"We  traveled  many  days,"  continued  La 
Salle,  "slept  among  Indians,  reached  Lake  On 
tario,  were  in  constant  danger  from  the  hostile 
tribes,  and  at  last,  when  I  had  secured  a  guide,  I 
came  to  a  river  which  the  Indians  call  the  Ohio, 
and  descended  it  until  our  passage  was  barred 
by  a  great  fall.  Another  wide  river  I  followed 


BUILDING  THE  GRIFFIN.  45 

the  next  year,  but  whether  it  was  the  one  the 
Senecas  spoke  of  I  cannot  tell  until  we  have  ex 
plored  it  farther.  It  is  for  you  and  me  to  decide, 
Friend  Tonty.  That  river  calls  to  me  day  and 
night." 

"Why  did  you  not  go  on  at  that  time?"  the 
Italian  queried. 

"I  had  many  enemies  then  as  now,"  answered 
La  Salle,  "who  scoffed  at  me  as  a  dreamer  or 
as  a  sordid  trader  who  risked  the  lives  of 
Frenchmen  to  make  himself  rich.  I  was  forced 
to  wait,  and  the  long  months  and  years  have 
been  slow,  but  now  at  last  the  day  has  come,  and 
I  shall  not  let  my  spirit  be  troubled  by  any  set 
backs.  We  shall  .  .  ." 

He  was  interrupted  by  a  man  who  hastened 
towards  them  on  snowshoes.  "Seigneur,"  he 
called,  "the  men  have  reached  the  plateau  and 
are  waiting  for  you  to  point  out  the  spot  where 
they  are  to  begin." 

La  Salle's  whole  expression  changed  from  the 
half  dreamy,  fixed  gaze  of  the  enthusiast  to  that 
of  the  wide-awake  man  of  practical  affairs.  He 
quickened  his  step,  crying:  "Come,  Tonty,  let 
us  hasten!" 

There  was  no  further  talking  now;  the  three 
climbed  the  steep  sides  of  the  mountain,  up 
which  the  workmen,  laden  with  tools  and  such 


46  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

provisions  and  material  as  had  been  saved  from 
the  wreck,  had  mounted  an  hour  before.  As 
they  neared  the  summit  they  could  hear,  even 
beyond  the  sound  of  the  men's  voices,  a  dull 
roar  as  of  far-off  cannon. 

"The  Great  Falls  of  Niagara — a  league  away" 
— panted  La  Salle,  breathless  with  his  hasty 
climb,  in  explanation  to  Tonty's  quick  gesture 
of  astonishment. 

Just  ahead  of  them  was  a  black-robed  figure, 
bent  beneath  a  load  attached  to  his  back.  They 
called  out  a  greeting  as  their  more  rapid  strides 
overtook  Father  Hennepin,  sturdy  traveler 
though  he  was,  burdened  by  his  neatly  fitted, 
portable  altar.  A  huge  fire  was  sending  its 
flames  leaping  straight  upward  into  the  still  air, 
igniting  some  branches  of  spruce  or  the  dried 
oak  leaves  from  which  the  snow  had  been  blown. 
About  the  fire  stood  all  of  the  men  of  the  expedi 
tion  waiting  for  La  Salle's  command  to  start 
work  on  the  first  ship  ever  built  by  white  men 
on  the  Great  Lakes.  With  one  quick  glance, 
La  Salle  swept  the  spot.  The  frozen  mouth  of 
the  stream  which  emptied  into  the  larger  river, 
he  saw,  was  perfectly  adapted  to  his  needs,  and 
there  was  enough  timber  in  the  forest  to  build 
navies  for  all  Europe.  He  motioned  to  the 
ship's  captain,  Maitre  Moyse,  and  within  five 


BUILDING  THE  GRIFFIN  47 

minutes  the  cheerful  ring  of  the  axes  awakened 
every  fox,  wildcat  and  deer  within  a  league,  and 
rejoiced  the  hearts  of  La  Salle  and  Tonty.  Be 
fore  nightfall  there  was  cleared  in  the  dense  for 
est  a  space  large  enough  for  the  two  Mohegan 
hunters  to  build  wigwams,  wherein  La  Salle  and 
his  men  slept  comfortably.  Though  it  was  the 
season  when  there  was  little  to  fear  from  the 
Iroquois,  who  were  busy  with  winter  hunting, 
La  Salle  set  sentries  on  both  sides  of  the  camp, 
and  during  the  night  made  the  rounds  himself 
to  see  that  they  had  not  fallen  asleep  and  frozen 
to  death. 

A  day  or  two  later  the  keel  of  the  Griffin, 
the  name  La  Salle  had  already  chosen  for  the 
vessel  that  was  so  necessary  to  the  success  of  his 
plans,  was  ready  to  be  laid.  In  addition  to  the 
Frenchmen  who  stood  about,  their  sullen  faces 
pinched  with  lack  of  food,  showing  little  sign 
of  sharing  their  leader's  enthusiasm,  was  a  group 
of  Indians,  Senecas,  braves  and  squaws.  The 
building  of  "the  big  canoe,"  they  felt,  boded  no 
good  to  their  people.  "What  do  they  want 
amongst  us?"  they  asked  one  another.  "Those 
Frenchmen  will  cross  the  lakes  in  their  canoe 
and  trade  with  our  enemies.  They  will  perhaps 
build  more  strong  wigwams  and  palisades  here 
where  we  hunt  and  fish  ...  let  us  destroy 


48  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

their  canoe  before  even  it  is  built  ...  let  us 
frighten  them  that  they  will  go  away  and  never 
return." 

La  Salle  was  aware  that  the  Senecas  were  an 
gry  and  resentful,  but  he  thought  it  wiser  to  pay 
no  attention  to  them.  Maitre  Moyse  stood 
waiting  for  the  ceremony  of  the  hammering  of 
the  first  bolt.  La  Salle  took  the  hammer  from 
his  hand  and  handed  it  to  Father  Hennepin. 

"Nay,  Commander,"  the  priest  declined,  "it 
fits  not  with  the  modesty  of  my  religious  profes 
sion.  Do  you  yourself  begin  the  good  work  and 
I  will  pray  for  its  success." 

So  La  Salle  swung  his  arm  with  a  mighty  ef 
fort  that  seemed  to  have  back  of  it  all  his  pas 
sionate  hopes,  and  the  bolt  went  true  to  its 
place. 

Brandy  was  served  out  to  the  men  in  celebra 
tion  of  the  day,  and  some  of  the  Indians,  whose 
tribe  had  already  learned  from  traders  a  taste 
for  "firewater,"  were  given  small  measures  of  it. 
Tonty,  to  whom  the  scene  had  all  the  interest 
of  novelty,  watched  the  savages  as  they  began 
to  show  the  influence  of  the  beverage.  Some 
uttered  cries  that  were  so  like  those  of  animals  in 
distress  that  he  could  scarcely  keep  from  laugh 
ter;  others  began  to  dance,  hopping  slowly  from 
one  foot  to  the  other.  One  of  them,  a  brave  of 


BUILDING  THE   GRIFFIN  49 

middle  age,  whom  earlier  in  the  day  Tonty  had 
noted  as  one  of  the  most  talkative,  the  one  most 
disturbed  by  the  building  of  the  ship,  now 
showed  the  greatest  signs  of  intoxication.  He 
reeled  from  side  to  side,  lurched  against  the 
tree  trunks  and  white  men,  and  almost  fell  over 
the  huge  piles  of  felled  lumber.  Yet  as  he  ob 
served  him,  Tonty  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  cause  of  his  behavior  was  not  liquor.  "He 
is  feigning  drunkenness,"  he  cried,  but  La  Salle, 
whom  he  thought  still  at  his  side,  had  moved 
away  to  point  out  to  Maitre  Moyse  a  tree  he 
thought  suitable  for  the  mast.  "He  is  up  to 
some  deviltry,"  he  continued  to  himself. 

But  before  Tonty  could  decide  what  the 
brave  intended  to  do,  the  Seneca  had  reeled 
towards  the  blacksmith,  who  was  heating  iron  in 
a  small  forge.  The  Indian  pulled  his  toma 
hawk  from  beneath  his  cape  and  lifted  it  to  brain 
the  Frenchman.  Luckily  the  blacksmith  heard 
Tonty' s  horrified  outcry  in  time,  and  lifting  up  a 
bar  of  red  hot  iron  in  his  pincers,  he  fenced  with 
it,  warding  off  the  tomahawk.  Father  Henne- 
pin,  who  was  nearest  by,  rushed  to  the  rescue. 
His  only  weapons  were  words,  but  they  were  in 
the  Indian's  own  language. 

"What!"  he  cried,  "y°u»  a  Seneca  warrior,  are 
not  brave  enough  to  kill  a  foe  on  the  warpath, 


50  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

but  must  bolster  up  your  woman's  spirit  with 
firewater  before  you  dare  lift  your  war  club. 
Shame  on  you  and  on  your  tribe!" 

The  rough  Father's  rebuke  was  effective. 
Though  the  Indian  was  not  guilty  of  the  offense 
of  drunkenness,  it  had  been  decided  among  them 
that  he  was  to  feign  drunkenness  while  he  killed 
one  of  the  white  men  and  so,  if  this  deed  did  not 
frighten  the  invaders  away,  his  tribe  could  say 
that  it  was  the  firewater  which  was  responsible 
for  what  he  had  done.  Now  he  drew  back  in 
assumed  shame,  and  shortly  afterwards  the  dis 
appointed  Indians  stole  away  to  their  own  vil 
lage.  Though  the  Frenchmen  expected  another 
attack,  and  though  the  Indians  sought  for  an  op 
portunity  to  destroy  the  ship  or  to  kill  its  build 
ers,  La  Salle's  precautions  made  this  impossible. 

Father  Hennepin  now  set  up  his  altar,  said 
mass,  and  all  sang  the  chants  in  celebration  of 
the  day's  work  and  what  it  signified. 

A  few  days  later  the  white  hull  of  the  Griffin 
shone  between  the  dark  tree  trunks  like  some 
strange  new  monster  of  the  forest.  La  Salle 
rested  his  hand  lovingly  on  its  smooth  sides  as 
he  said  to  Tonty: 

"I  hate  to  leave  my  Griffin,  Tority,  but  I 
leave  her  to  you,  who  will  take  the  best  of  care 
of  her.  I  would  not  go  but  that  it  is  only 


BUILDING  THE   GRIFFIN  51 

by  going  I  can  further  our  plans.  I  must 
show  the  men  I  shall  take  with  me  where  to 
build  the  blockhouses  to  protect  our  station,  and 
then  I  must  journey  back  to  Fort  Frontenac  to 
gather  new  supplies,  since  we  cannot  do  without 
them  to  take  the  place  of  those  that  were  sunk 
with  the  ship.  You  will  not  lose  faith,  Tonty, 
will  you?  I  will  return;  even  death  could  not 
stay  me  until  we  have  found  our  river." 

"Fear  not  for  me,  my  friend,"  Tonty  ans 
wered.  "I  doubt  no  more.  Your  Griffin  shall 
be  full  grown  when  you  return,  and  her  jaws 
ready  for  the  food  you  bring  her." 

Nevertheless,  it  was  with  a  certain  wistful 
glance  that  the  next  morning  the  Italian  beheld 
La  SalJe  depart.  He  set  briskly  to  work  to 
drive  away  his  feeling  of  loneliness  and  the 
sound  of  the  hammers  stirred  him  soon  to  cheer 
fulness. 

La  Salle  made  all  speed  he  could,  and  having 
shown  his  carpenters  where  to  build  the  block 
houses,  continued  on  his  way  with  only  two  men. 
Over  the  frozen  surface  of  Lake  Ontario  a  dog 
drew  the  sled  on  which  the  three  rode  by  turns. 
But  the  ice  was  roughened  by  the  wind  and  the 
going  was  slow.  The  small  supply  of  parched 
corn  they  were  able  to  carry  was  exhausted,  and 
still,  according  to  La  Salle's  calculations,  there 


52  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

were  two  days'  journey  between  them  and  Fort 
Frontenac.  He  knew  that  he  himself  could  go 
without,  but  he  dreaded  the  reproachful  glances 
of  his  men. 

As  they  journeyed,  sometimes  on  the  ice, 
sometimes  turning  into  the  forests  along  the 
banks,  La  Salle  was  conscious  of  a  feeling  of 
unaccustomed  loneliness  and  sadness.  It  was 
not  hunger,  not  the  wide  wastes  of  the  white 
lake,  not  even  the  difficulties  behind  and  before 
him,  which  were  responsible  for  it. 

"If  only  I  had  a  son !"  His  sudden  ejaculation 
surprised  himself.  For  the  first  time  he  had  put 
into  words  the  need  of  some  personal  affection 
in  his  life.  He  shook  his  head  as  if  to  dismiss 
the  thought  and  forced  himself  to  recall  with 
gratitude  Tonty's  loyalty,  but  did  not  wholly 
succeed  in  stifling  this  new  craving  for  the  love 
of  someone  younger  than  himself  who  would 
look  up  to  him,  and  to  whom  he  too  could 
look  for  sympathetic  understanding  of  his  ambi 
tions. 

"I  wonder,"  he  said  aloud  as  he  strode  ahead 
to  mark  the  path,  "how  my  young  priestling  in 
Quebec  comes  on.  That  was  a  youth  to  make  a 
father  proud.  If  he  were  not  wearing  the  black 
robe  I  would  gladly  take  him  with  me.  I  could 


BUILDING  THE   GRIFFIN  53 

tell  that  in  him  was  the  same  dreamer  stuff  out 
of  which  God  fashioned  me.  I  might  have  made 
a  man  and  an  explorer  of  him,  if  he  had  not  been 
eager  to  die  a  martyr." 


CHAPTER  IV 

CAPTIVES 

RAOUL  and  Denise  were  indeed  weary  be 
fore  their  captors  permitted  them  to  rest. 
They  had  come  many  miles  from  the  fox's  den, 
and  Raoul  was  ashamed  to  note  that  he  was 
limping  while  the  girl  still  walked  with  a  springy 
though  slow  step. 

"It  is  because  your  shoes  were  not  made  for 
such  traveling,"  she  explained.  "If  they  do  not 
mean  to  kill  us  immediately,  I  will  ask  them  to 
fashion  you  a  pair  of  moccasins  so  that  you  can 
walk  more  easily." 

They  had  thrown  themselves  down  on  the 
moss  in  the  depth  of  the  forest  where  the  Indians 
had  halted  for  the  night.  The  two  braves  had 
evidently  decided  that  they  were  not  yet  far  dis 
tant  enough  from  the  habitant's  house,  and  did 
not  light  a  fire.  They  took  from  their  wallets 
some  pieces  of  dried  venison  and  some  parched 

54 


CAPTIVES  M 

corn,  and  after  eating  a  portion,  threw  the  rest 
into  Denise's  lap.  The  children  could  not  swal 
low  the  meat,  but  they  chewed  enough  of  the  corn 
to  pacify  somewhat  the  craving  of  their  stom 
achs. 

"These  are  Senecas,"  said  Denise  after  some 
memory  had  come  to  her  of  words  her  father  had 
once  spoken.  "They  wear  their  hair  just  a  little 
different  from  the  manner  of  the  Mohawks, 
the  Cayugas,  the  Oiieidas  or  the  Onondaguas 
the  other  tribes  which  make  up  the  Iroquois,  or 
the  Five  Nations,  as  they  call  themselves." 

"Are  all  of  them  enemies  of  the  French?" 
asked  Raoul,  who,  though  he  shuddered  at  their 
aspect,  could  not  take  his  eyes  from  his  captors. 

"They  are  allies  of  the  English  and  at  times 
they  fight  us,  and  always,  even  in  times  of  peace, 
stray  bands  of  Iroquois  rob  and  burn  and  kill  in 
our  land." 

"What  do  you  think  they  mean  to  do  with  us?" 
queried  Raoul. 

He  had  crawled  a  few  feet  away  to  a  rivulet 
where  he  filled  his  hands  and  drank.  He  imag 
ined  no  woodland  creature  could  have  been  more 
silent  than  he,  yet  both  Indians  turned  their 
heads  and  observed  him  gravely  until  he  had 
seated  himself  again  by  the  side  of  Denise. 

"I  cannot  tell,"  she  answered  after  reflecting. 


56     WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

"I  do  not  see  why  they  did  not  kill  us  at  once. 
We  are  not  rich  folks'  children — at  least  I  am 
not,"  she  corrected  herself — "and  so  their  taking 
us  would  not  be  a  matter  of  sufficient  cause  to 
start  up  warfare,  if  that  were  what  the  Senecas 
desired.  They  have  no  grudge  against  my 
father,  for  he  has  never  had  any  dealings  with 
the  Iroquois.  It  may  be,"  she  said  with  a  shud 
der,  "that  they  will  take  us  to  their  village  to 
torture  us  at  some  feast  of  their  demons." 

Martyrdom  was  nearer  to  Raoul  now  than 
when  he  had  dreamed  of  it  in  France  or  within 
the  seminary  at  Quebec,  but  he  did  not  welcome 
it  as  he  had  dreamed  of  doing.  Then  he  had 
seemed  to  see  it  at  the  end  of  many  years  when 
his  hair  should  be  gray.  He  too  shuddered  as 
he  recalled  some  of  the  stories  Jacques  Dubois 
had  related. 

"Is  there  any  chance,  think  you,  that  we  might 
escape  to-night?"  he  whispered,  forgetting  that 
their  captors  could  not  understand  French. 

"Not  while  there  are  two  of  them,"  she  sighed, 
throwing  herself  back  wearily  on  the  ground. 
"Indeed,  I  am  afraid  there  is  no  chance  at  all, 
and  God  knows  what  will  become  of  us." 

She  buried  her  face  in  the  dried  leaves  and 
Raoul  could  hear  her  muffled  sobs.  He  had  al 
most  forgotten  that  she  was  a  girl.  During  the 


CAPTIVES  57 

past  few  days  he  had  accepted  her  leadership 
and  still  relied  upon  her  superior  knowledge  of 
Indian  ways.  She  had  been  so  brave,  so  hardy, 
so  uncomplaining,  that  he  was  surprised  by  this 
outburst.  All  the  chivalry  in  him  was  aroused 
by  her  need.  He  leaned  over  and  patted  her 
shoulder,  saying  softly.  "Don't  cry,  Denise,  I 
will  take  care  of  you.  Don't  let  them  hear  you." 

His  tone  rather  than  his  words  comforted  her. 
Neither  of  them  was  amused  at  the  impossibility 
of  a  defenseless  boy's  getting  the  better  of  two 
Seneca  braves.  Both  children  were  trembling 
with  fright  but  both  tried  valiantly  to  conceal 
their  terror.  They  talked  in  whispers  and 
agreed  that  each  should  keep  awake  part  of  the 
night,  so  that  even  if  no  chance  for  escape  should 
come,  their  fate,  whatever  it  might  be,  would 
not  fall  upon  them  in  sleep.  The  night  was  cold, 
and  at  Denise's  suggestion,  they  gathered  arm- 
fuls  of  leaves,  which  were  luckily  quite  dry,  and 
Raoul  covered  Denise  with  them,  and  then,  lying 
down  between  her  and  their  captors,  pulled  up  as 
many  over  his  own  legs  as  he  could  reach.  He 
was  to  watch  the  first  part  of  the  night,  but 
soon  after  Denise  had  fallen  asleep  his  eyes 
closed  and  he  too  lost  consciousness. 

He  was  awakened  by  a  hand  on  his  shoulder. 
He  sprang  up  startled.  It  was  dawn.  The 


58  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

younger  Indian  pointed  to  Denise,  and  Raoul 
leaned  over  arid  called  to  her.  She  too  could 
scarcely  keep  from  crying  when  she  saw  the  In 
dians.  At  the  command  of  the  other  Seneca,  the 
two  children  took  their  places  between  the 
braves  and  were  glad  to  walk  briskly  to  warm 
their  legs  cramped  with  the  cold  of  the  night. 
Now  and  then  the  Indians  called  out  a  word,  but 
for  the  most  part  the  little  procession  moved  in 
silence. 

"Can  you  understand  what  they  say?"  asked 
Raoul. 

"Many  of  the  words,"  she  answered.  "I  used 
to  talk  with  some  of  the  hunters  who  came  to 
trade  with  father,  and  their  language  is  not  very 
different.  They  say  they  will  stop  for  food  when 
the  sun  is  up  an  hour." 

It  was  beside  a  stream  that  they  made  their 
halt  for  breakfast.  The  younger  Seneca,  Red 
Wing,  pulled  a  sinew  line  and  a  bone  hook  from 
his  wallet,  and  almost  before  the  bait  touched 
the  water,  there  was  a  large  pike  flapping  on 
the  rocky  beach. 

"Build  a  fire  and  cook  it,  squaw  child,"  he 
commanded.  Denise  lost  no  time  in  gathering 
bits  of  twigs  together.  But  she  could  not  light 
it,  and  Red  Wing,  with  a  look  of  disdain,  took  a 
pointed  stick  and  twirled  it  rapidly  about  in  a 


CAPTIVES  59 

rotten  log  until  a  spark  came.  Raoul  looked  on 
with  great  interest,  forgetting  for  a  moment 
their  danger  in  this  hit  of  woodcraft. 

Old  Wolf  and  Red  Wing  devoured  the  fish 
and  bits  of  dried  venison,  and  when  they  had 
finished  tossed  what  was  left  to  the  children,  who 
did  not  complain  of  a  lack  of  ceremony  or  lack 
of  plates,  or  even  of  salt.  They  ate  their  food 
almost  as  greedily  as  had  the  savages-  It  might 
be  they  were  to  be  killed  within  an  hour,  but 
at  any  rate,  all  they  could  think  of  for  the  mo 
ment  was  their  hunger. 

Before  they  had  finished  the  Indians  were  off 
again,  and  Raoul  and  Denise  hurried  along, 
keeping  their  last  piece  of  venison  to  chew  on  as 
they  went. 

"Can  you  tell  which  way  we  are  going?"  asked 
Raoul  after  they  had  been  walking  an  hour  or 
more. 

"Southward,"  she  answered  without  hesita 
tion. 

"How  do  you  know?"  he  asked,  ashamed  that 
he  must  confess  to  her  his  ignorance,  but  eager 
to  learn  what  she  could  teach  him. 

"By  the  trees.  See  the  moss,  that  keeps  them 
warm  on  the  side  where  they  face  the  north 
wind." 

It  was  noon  when  they  came  out  from  the  for- 


60  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

est  to  the  bank  of  a  river.  Red  Wing,  like  a 
pointer  that  finds  his  way  direct  to  a  fallen  bird, 
made  straight  through  underbrush  that  seemed 
impenetrable  to  a  hidden  canoe.  He  carried  it 
down  to  the  water. 

"Enter,"  he  ordered,  and  Raoul  and  Denise, 
abandoning  now  the  hope  which  had  kept  them  up 
all  that  day  that  Jacques  Dubois  and  other  habi 
tants  might  be  following  after  to  rescue  them, 
stepped  into  the  boat.  The  two  Indians  at  the 
bow  and  stern  took  the  paddles  and  the  canoe 
traveled  faster  than  any  boat  Raoul  had  ever 
seen,  though  the  Senecas  seemed  to  be  making 
no  great  effort.  Not  until  nightfall  did  they 
halt,  when  there  was  more  venison  and  parched 
corn.  Raoul  and  Denise  slept  not  more  sound 
ly,  but  more  comfortably,  as  the  warmth  of  the 
fire  Red  Wing  lighted  was  very  grateful.  Again 
Raoul  tried  to  keep  awake,  but  the  long  journey 
in  the  open  air  had  made  him  sleepy,  and  the 
fact  that  two  days  had  gone  by  and  they  were 
still  alive  assured  him  that  their  captors  had 
evidently  no  intention  of  killing  them  immed 
iately. 

The  next  day  was  much  like  the  foregoing, 
except  that  their  journey  was  broken  by  certain 
portages.  The  Senecas  carried  the  canoe  on 
their  heads  and  Raoul  and  Denise,  finding  in 


CAPTIVES  61 

certain  sunny  spots  some  wild  grapes  still  un 
touched  by  the  frost,  plucked  and  ate  them  as 
they  went  along,  glad  to  vary  the  monotony  of 
their  diet. 

"What  can  they  want  with  us?"  again  Denise 
put  the  question  they  had  asked  each  other  fifty 
times  since  their  captivity  began. 

"How  would  it  do  to  ask  them?'*  suggested 
Raoul.  "To-night  when  we  make  camp  put  the 
question  to  them.  I  would  gladly  do  it,  Denise, 
if  I  but  spoke  their  tongue.  I  have  listened  to 
them  to-day  and  I  have  caught  the  words  for 
'fish,'  'canoe,'  'hurry'." 

Denise  promised,  and  that  night  when  Raoul, 
proud  of  his  success  in  lighting  the  fire,  was 
helping  Red  Wing  to  broil  the  trout  he  had  just 
caught,  Denise  bravely  faced  Old  Wolf  who  was 
resting  against  a  tree  trunk. 

"What  do  you  plan  to  do  with  us,  warrior  of 
the  Senecas?"  she  asked.  "There  is  neither 
glory  to  be  gained  by  slaying  children  nor  wam 
pum  to  be  earned." 

Though  she  trembled  inwardly  as  the  brave's 
imperturbable  gaze  rested  upon  her,  the  girl  did 
not  show  it,  and  Raoul,  who  had  left  the  fire  to 
stand  beside  her  to  share  whatever  danger  her 
bold  words  might  call  down,  imagined  that  the 
Indian  was  not  displeased  at  the  spirit  she 


62  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

showed.  But  the  Seneca  did  not  answer.  He 
rose,  approached  the  fire,  seized  one  of  the  trout 
and  began  eating  it,  and  the  baffled  children 
could  find  nothing  better  to  do  than  follow  his 
example. 

If  it  had  not  been  for  the  uncertainty  and  anx 
iety,  Raoul  would  have  enjoyed  these  days  that 
followed — the  long,  quiet  hours  on  rapid  rivers 
or  in  the  silent  forest,  the  joy  of  rest  at  night, 
the  zest  for  food,  the  freedom  of  body  and  mind 
unharassed  by  the  minute  rules  of  his  school 
and  seminary  life.  He  liked  too  to  talk  to  De- 
nise,  who  in  her  few  years  had  accumulated  what 
seemed  to  him  a  vast  store  of  knowledge  about 
birds  and  beasts,  weather  and  the  ways  of  the 
winds.  She  was  so  generous  too  in  the  way  she 
imparted  it,  never  seeming  conscious  of  any  su 
periority  over  him.  Many  times  at  night  before 
she  fell  asleep,  or  in  the  daytime  when  the  In 
dians  were  not  near  enough  to  overhear,  he  heard 
her  choke  back  a  sob.  Then  he  would  comfort 
her  with  words  or  a  clasp  of  his  hand.  In  low 
tones  as  they  lay  at  the  bottom  of  the  canoe  he 
would  tell  her  stories  of  his  boy  life  in  Brittany, 
of  his  school,  of  his  brothers,  and  of  the  old 
castle.  But  best  of  all  she  liked  to  hear  of  Ver 
sailles,  the  great  palace,  and  of  the  King  as  he 


CAPTIVES  63 

had  seen  him  in  all  his  magnificence,  surrounded 
by  his  courtiers. 

"And  you  hit  His  Majesty?"  she  would  ex 
claim  in  horror.  "I  should  think  you  would 
have  been  frightened  to  death." 

He  told  her  too  of  his  meeting  with  La  Salle 
and  how  it  was  he  who  had  been  the  cause  of  his 
leaving  old  France  for  New  France.  Denise 
had  heard  much  talk,  she  told  him,  among  the 
habitant  neighbors  of  that  seigneur  whom  the 
Governor,  Count  Frontenac,  had  delighted  to 
honor.  And  Denise  on  her  part  talked  of  her 
home,  of  her  father  and  mother,  of  her  brothers, 
of  the  dog,  of  her  chickens,  her  rabbit,  lovingly, 
sadly,  as  if  she  had  been  parted  from  them  for 
years.  Yet  even  her  thoughts  of  home  did  not 
keep  her  from  delighting  in  any  sudden  new 
sight,  an  eagle  that  dived  down  not  far  from 
them  and  then  soared  up  again  with  a  silver  fish 
in  his  claws ;  a  young  bear  cub  shoved  by  his  mis 
chievous  brother,  whom  they  caught  sight  of  roll 
ing  head-foremost  down  a  smooth  rock  to  a  sandy 
beach  below,  or  a  strange  brilliant  flower  in  a 
swamp. 

And  all  the  time  they  talked  of  the  possibility 
of  making  an  escape.  By  day  they  knew  that 
there  was  no  chance.  They  decided  that  they 
must  make  an  attempt  soon  if  they  would  hope 


64  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

to  find  their  way  back  through  the  forest.  They 
had  of  course  no  boat  and  their  only  plan  was, 
if  they  managed  to  get  away,  to  follow  the 
course  of  the  rivers.  Every  night  Raoul  would 
practise  getting  up  as  noiselessly  as  he  could, 
and  then  when  a  grunt  from  the  Indians  showed 
that  they  were  aware  of  his  movements,  he  would 
stamp  about  as  if  he  had  risen  only  in  order  to 
stretch  his  legs  or  to  warm  himself. 

One  night  to  his  astonishment  he  succeeded 
better.  There  was  no  sound  from  the  Senecas, 
so  he  crept  off  a  number  of  paces  until  he  felt 
that  he  was  safely  out  of  hearing  and  tried  in 
the  dim  moonlight  to  discover  in  which  direction 
lay  the  north.  When  he  had  satisfied  himself 
that  he  knew  he  crept  back,  his  heart  beating 
with  excitement. 

The  next  morning  when  they  were  in  the 
canoe  he  told  Denise.  "We  must  try  to-night," 
he  added,  "if  everything  goes  well.  I  believe 
that  they  have  no  idea  that  we  shall  attempt  to 
escape  and  so  do  not  think  it  necessary  longer  to 
watch  us.  Even  in  these  few  days  I  have  learned 
much,  and  I  think  we  can  find  our  way  and  can 
keep  alive  on  the  fish  I  can  catch  with  the  ex 
tra  hook  and  line  Red  Wing  dropped  and  I 
found  yesterday.  Are  you  willing  to  try,  De 
nise?" 


CAPTIVES  65 

"Indeed,  yes,"  she  replied  heartily.  "We  shall 
do  our  best  and  the  saints  will  help  us." 

Their  resting  place  that  evening  was  well 
adapted  to  their  scheme.  It  was  up  a  slight  hil 
lock  above  the  river  where  the  pine  forest  was 
freer  of  underbrush  than  they  had  seen  it  be 
fore,  and  a  waterfall,  very  noisy  for  its  height, 
helped  dull  all  other  sounds.  Raoul  studied  his 
surroundings  carefully  and  laid  out  in  his  mind 
the  exact  direction  they  would  take,  choosing 
even  the  particular  trees  which  were  to  serve  him 
for  landmarks  in  the  first  faint  light  of  the  moon 
when  he  meant  to  start. 

There  was  no  trouble  that  night  in  keeping 
awake.  He  listened  to  every  sound,  to  the  quiet 
breathing  of  Denise  and  to  the  muttered  words 
of  the  Senecas  before  they  went  to  sleep,  and  to 
the  blessed  gurgling  and  splashing  of  his  friend, 
the  waterfall.  It  was  perhaps  an  hour  later 
when  he  touched  Denise,  who  awoke  instantly. 
There  was  no  need  of  any  word;  it  had  all  been 
arranged  beforehand.  They  both  began  to 
crawl  slowly  and  silently  forward  on  their  faces, 
stopping  every  second  to  listen.  It  was  almost 
dark,  with  just  enough  light  to  distinguish  the 
outlines  of  the  trees.  The  waterfall's  splash 
seemed  to  fill  all  the  forest.  Slowly  and  surely 
the  children  had  entered  the  fringe  of  pines 


66     WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

which  bordered  their  camp,  and  after  another 
pause  during  which  Raoul  strained  his  ears,  he 
rose  to  his  feet.  Denise  followed  his  example 
and  then,  putting  down  each  foot  carefully  so 
that  it  would  not  dislodge  a  twig  or  stone,  they 
hurried  on  as  best  they  might. 

At  last  they  were  far  enough  away  to  run. 

"Now!"  whispered  Raoul.  They  started  off, 
their  hearts  beating  with  excitement  and  wonder 
at  their  escape. 

"What  is  that?"  cried  Denise  in  a  low  voice  as 
she  ran,  and  Raoul  looked  up  and  saw  in  front 
of  them  the  dim  figure  of  a  man  who  stood  there 
waiting.  He  made  a  quick  decision — better  to 
go  on  and  face  this  one  man,  whoever  he  might 
be,  than  return  to  their  two  captors.  He  caught 
hold  of  Denise's  hand  and  sped  onward,  trying 
to  swerve  to  the  right.  But  there  was  a  quick 
spring  and  the  man's  arm  encircled  them  both 
like  an  iron  hoop. 

"Did  you  think  Red  Wing's  ears  were  dulled 
by  the  waterfall?"  asked  the  Seneca  ironically. 
"Think  you  that  Old  Wolf  and  he  have  not 
listened  each  night  to  your  clumsy  feet?  If  you 
are  to  be  an  Indian  you  must  learn  to  walk  more 
warily,  or  even  the  deaf  grandmothers  in  the 
lodges  will  call  out  to  know  what  the  clamor 


means." 


CAPTIVES  67 

Denise's  shock  had  been  so  great  that  she 
could  not  keep  back  the  tears.  They  fell  all  the 
way  to  the  camp  as  she  and  Raoul  walked  de 
jectedly  ahead  of  Red  Wing,  who  did  not  even 
deign  to  hold  them.  Old  Wolf  sat  up  as  they 
approached  but  said  nothing.  The  moonlight 
was  now  brighter  and  Raoul  noticed  that  the  old 
er  brave  nodded  to  his  nephew.  Red  Wing  took 
Denise  by  the  shoulder  firmly  but  not  roughly, 
and  sat  her  down  on  the  pine  needles  nearer 
Old  Wolf  than  she  had  lain  the  earlier  part  of 
the  evening.  Then,  leaving  Raoul  standing,  he 
went  back  into  the  trees  and  cut  a  thick  knotted 
twig  from  a  low-hanging  branch.  Raoul  knew 
what  was  coming  and  knew  that  there  was  no 
escape.  Red  Wing  took  his  fish  line  and  bound 
the  boy's  hands  to  a  tree  trunk.  After  he  had 
unbuttoned  his  coat  and  shirt  and  drawn  them 
from  his  shoulders,  he  brought  down  his  stick 
upon  the  boy's  bare  back.  The  blow  was  so  se 
vere  and  the  pain  so  sharp,  that  an  involuntary 
cry  burst  from  Raoul's  lips.  Then  he  recovered 
his  self-control,  and  though  the  blows  fell  without 
intermission,  the  only  cries  to  be  heard  were  those 
of  Denise  as  she  begged  Old  "Wolf  to  command 
Red  Wing  to  cease  the  punishment.  But  still 
the  stick  came  down  time  after  time,  until  Raoul 
had  fainted. 


68  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

The  Seneca  untied  him  and  threw  himself 
down  by  the  side  of  his  uncle.  Neither  made 
any  objection  when  Denise  wet  her  handkerchief 
at  the  waterfall  and  bathed  Raoul's  face  until 
he  recovered  consciousness.  Then  she  laid  it  on 
his  quivering  back.  After  an  hour  or  more  dur 
ing  which  she  renewed  constantly  the  wet  com 
press  and  tried  to  comfort  him  with  words,  the 
two  fell  asleep.  When  they  awoke  in  the  morn 
ing,  except  for  the  pain,  it  seemed  as  if  nothing 
had  happened.  The  Indians  spoke  no  word  of 
resentment  or  warning.  When  they  had  eaten 
Raoul  walked  slowly  and  painfully  to  the  canoe, 
thankful  at  least  that  their  method  of  travel  that 
day  spared  him  further  exertion. 


CHAPTER  V 

IN  A  SENECA  LODGE 

FOR  three  months  Raoul  and  Denise  had 
been  prisoners  in  the  Seneca  town  near  the 
borders  of  Lake  Ontario.  After  the  flogging 
Old  Wolf  and  Red  Wing  were  not  harsh  to  them. 
The  Indians  knew  that  there  would  be  no  fur 
ther  attempt  to  escape,  and  during  the  rest  of 
the  journey,  and  now  in  the  town,  the  children 
were  as  free  to  go  and  come  as  any  of  their  com 
panions.  Raoul  and  Denise  too  knew  that  there 
was  no  longer  a  chance  of  their  ever  finding  their 
way  back  to  Quebec,  and  there  were  moments 
when  the  memory  of  the  seminary  and  of  the 
habitant's  home  grew  dimmer  to  them.  They 
were  no  longer  anxious  about  their  immediate 
future.  They  were  certain  that  their  lives  were 
safe;  there  was  food  in  abundance,  and  except 
for  the  occasional  spiteful  act  of  some  Indian, 


70     WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

boy  or  girl,  they  were  kindly  treated.  Old  Wolf, 
whose  only  son  had  been  killed  in  a  foray  with 
the  Illinois  five  years  before,  had  lived  since  then 
in  a  lodge  alone  with  his  squaw.  She  listened  to 
his  commands  on  his  return,  took  the  white 
boy  and  girl  into  her  lodge,  showed  them  where 
their  abbinos  (special  seats)  would  be  about  the 
fire  of  her  brave,  and  bidding  them  sit  down  and 
eat  a  bowl  of  succotash,  went  out.  When  she 
returned  she  had  two  bundles  of  clothes  in  her 
arms. 

"Put  them  on,"  she  said  to.  Denise,  motioning 
Raoul  to  go  outside,  and  when  the  white-faced 
little  squaw-child  came  out  in  deer-skin  and  em 
broidered  moccasins,  her  hair  braided  and  hang 
ing  over  her  shoulder,  he  went  in  to  transform 
himself  just  as  completely. 

"I  like  these  clothes  better  than  the  old  ones," 
he  said  as  he  rejoined  her;  "they  are  so  light  and 
so  comfortable.  With  your  dark  hair,  Denise, 
it  won't  take  long  until  the  sunburn  makes  you 
look  a  regular  Indian.  My  fair  hair  still  keeps 
me  French." 

"We  must  make  the  best  of  it,"  she  answered. 
"The  squaw  seems  kind,  and  soon  I  will  make 
her  tell  us  why  we  are  here." 

Very    quickly    they    learned    Indian    ways. 


IN  A  SENECA  LODGE  71 

There  were  two  reasons  for  their  doing  so,  one 
the  natural  imitative  instinct  of  childhood,  the 
other  their  belief  that  it  would  please  their  cap 
tors.  Yet  the  Senecas  seemed  not  to  desire  the 
change  to  take  place  too  soon.  Old  Wolf  and 
other  braves  would  question  Raoul  about  the 
ways  of  the  French.  He  had  already  learned  to 
understand  almost  all  that  was  said  to  him  if  it 
were  not  spoken  too  fast,  and  he  could  reply  halt 
ingly.  The  Indians  were  never  tired  of  getting 
him  to  tell  of  the  ship  which  had  brought  him 
over  the  great  waters,  of  all  that  he  knew  of  the 
training  of  soldiers,  of  the  food  the  French  ate, 
of  the  great  village  and  the  big  lodge  where 
dwelt  the  French  king,  bigger  and  more  gor 
geous  even  than  the  abode  of  Onontio,  as  the  In 
dians  called  the  Governor  of  New  France.  They 
crowded  around  to  watch  the  boy  when  he  cut 
with  Denise's  knife  a  pen  from  a  wild  goose 
quill  and  dipping  it  in  paint,  wrote  strange  signs 
on  a  piece  of  birchbark. 

"What  does  it  mean?"  they  would  ask,  and  he 
would  say:  It  means  that  I,  Raoul,  caught  five 
fish  to-day  and  that  Old  Wolf  ate  them  all." 

Then  they  would  laugh  and  a  day  or  two  later 
would  bring  back  the  birchbark  to  him  to  see  if  it 
still  said  the  same. 

The  medicine  men  talked  much  with  him,  ask- 


72  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

ing  many  questions  about  how  the  French  in 
voked  the  spirits  and  how  they  persuaded  them 
to  send  rain  or  plenty  of  game.  Raoul  thought 
to  himself  that  now  had  come  the  chance  to  do 
the  missionary  work  to  which  he  had  dreamed 
of  devoting  his  life ;  but  he  could  not  manage  to 
find  words  nor  the  exact  ideas  with  which  to 
make  Christianity  comprehensible  to  his  hearers. 
But  perhaps,  he  consoled  himself,  he  would  be 
more  successful  when  he  knew  the  Indian  tongue 
more  fully.  He  was  almost  ashamed  to  confess 
to  Denise  that  he  was  not  always  unhappy  in 
captivity. 

"If  I  could  be  sure,"  he  admitted,  "that  when 
spring  comes  we  could  return  to  Quebec,  I 
should  enjoy  this  winter  spent  among  the  sav 
ages." 

"It  is  better  for  you,"  Denise  said  pouting, 
"than  it  is  for  me.  You  are  a  future  brave  and  I 
shall  be  only  a  squaw.  I  must  sew  deerskins  and 
cook  and  grind  corn  while  you  make  arrows  and 
listen  to  the  stories  of  the  warriors." 

"But  the  squaws  are  not  unkind  to  you  when 
you  are  alone  with  them?"  he  queried  as  they 
walked  down  the  hard-packed  snow  path 
through  the  center  of  the  town. 

"Nay,  they  are  kind  enough  except  that  they 
will  finger  my  hair  and  my  clothes  when  old  Sun 


IN  A  SENECA  LODGE  73 

Cloud  brings  them  out  for  inspection.  I  have 
had  to  show  them  how  to  put  them  on,  but  Sun 
Cloud  makes  me  take  them  off  immediately,  and 
in  truth,  Raoul,  it  seems  to  me  too  that  in  the 
matter  of  comfortable  and  warm  apparel  the  In 
dians  are  wiser  than  white  folks." 

"And  have  you  learned  anything  of  the  reason 
why  we  were  brought  here?"  he  asked.  "Has 
not  Sun  Cloud  let  slip  a  word  when  you  were 
working  together?  Or  is  she  afraid  of  Old  Wolf 
and  dare  not  speak?" 

"I  do  not  think  she  fears  him,"  answered  De- 
nise  when  they  had  stopped  to  throw  nuts  after 
a  squirrel  scurrying  over  the  snow.  "I  do  not 
believe  that  the  squaws  are  as  afraid  of  the 
braves  as  the  braves  pretend  to  believe  them. 
Yesterday  she  poured  the  broth  from  the  kettle 
on  the  ground  when  Old  Wolf  complained  that 
it  was  not  strong  enough,  and  he  did  not  even 
scold,  though  he  had  to  go  without  his  dinner. 
I  think  she  started  to  tell  me  the  truth  the  other 
day,  but  she  stopped  and  mumbled :  ' You  are  too 
young'.  Perhaps  she  would  tell  you  if  you 
asked." 

This  Raoul  intended  to  do  as  soon  as  he  found 
an  opportunity.  It  came  a  day  or  two  later 
when  he  shot  his  first  turkey  and  brought  it  back 


74  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

proudly  to  the  lodge  and  handed  it  to  Sun  Cloud 
to  cook. 

"Your  bow  has  shed  its  first  blood,"  she  said 
in  praise  as  she  took  it  from  him.  "Your  arm 
grows  stronger  every  dawn  and  the  day  is  not 
far  distant  when  the  young  squaws  will  call  out 
as  you  return  from  the  hunting  or  the  warpath, 
'Ralo  is  a  strong  brave!' ' 

"Nay,  Sun  Cloud,"  he  protested,  "I  am  no 
Seneca  to  dwell  always  among  you.  My  people 
and  those  of  Red  Cheek  live  far  to  the  northward. 
When  spring  comes  we  must  set  out  on  our 
journey  to  them." 

He  spoke  purposely  with  a  confidence  he  did 
not  feel.  Somehow,  he  knew  that  the  present 
conversation  would  explain  why  they  had  been 
carried  off. 

"Sit  down,"  commanded  Sun  Cloud  as  she 
herself  took  a  seat  on  the  thick  bearskin  before 
the  fire,  and  began  to  pluck  the  feathers  from 
the  turkey's  breast.  "It  is  well  that  you  should 
know  why  you  are  here  and  why  you  will  stay 
with  us  and  become  a  Seneca.  I  will  tell  you 
the  very  truth,  for  my  lips  are  too  old  to  form 
lies.  And  when  the  questions  in  your  mind  are 
settled,  your  thoughts  will  grow  quiet  as  does  a 
stream  when  a  rock  which  makes  it  angry  is 
taken  out  and  thrown  on  the  land.  When  you 


IN  A  SENECA  LODGE  75 

know  you  will  be  proud  and  glad  that  Old  Wolf 
and  Sun  Cloud  have  brought  you  to  their  lodge." 

Raoul  made  no  attempt  to  contradict  her;  he 
was  too  eager  to  hear  what  she  had  to  tell  him. 

"Once,"  she  continued,  "the  Senecas  were  the 
greatest  in  number  of  all  the  Five  Nations  who 
dwell  in  the  Long  House.  But  they  have  fought 
many  battles  and  many  braves  have  not  come 
home,  and  the  tribe  has  dwindled.  Even  when 
the  papooses  come  to  the  young  squaws  most  of 
them  are  girls.  The  chiefs  have  talked  this  over 
at  many  council  fires,  and  the  medicine  men  have 
made  incantations  and  have  questioned  the  gods 
and  besought  them  not  to  let  the  Senecas  grow 
so  weak  that  their  enemies  may  overwhelm  them. 
At  last  the  Great  Chief,  fourscore  and  ten  years 
old,  who  dwells  this  winter  farther  south  some 
thirty  leagues  from  here,  heard  the  spirits  speak. 
They  told  him  that  the  tribe  needed  new 
strength,  new  wisdom,  new  medicine.  'What  is 
stronger  than  the  Indian's  medicine?'  asked  the 
other  chiefs  of  him.  'The  white  man's  medicine,' 
he  replied.  Then  he  told  them  what  the  spirits 
had  revealed  to  him.  They  must  secure  a  white 
youth,  they  said,  and  train  him  in  all  the  ways 
of  the  Senecas  and  yet  must  not  let  him  forget 
altogether  the  ways  of  his  own  people.  Later 
when  he  was  grown  a  rhan  and  had  proved  him- 


76  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

self  worthy  on  the  warpath  and  wise  in  council, 
he  should  be  revered  as  the  first  chief  of  the  Sen- 
ecas  and  lead  them  to  victory  against  their  enem 
ies.  He  would  take  an  Indian  maiden  for  his 
squaw  and  there  would  be  strong  boy  papooses 
in  his  lodge.  So  it  was  that  each  man  of  the 
tribe  was  instructed  to  bring  back  the  first  white 
boy  he  could  capture.  Several  were  unlucky," 
she  said,  pausing  slightly;  "their  arrows  killed 
the  boys  they  would  have  captured  alive.  Old 
Wolf  and  Red  Wing  brought  with  them  more 
than  the  game  they  set  out  to  hunt,  not  only  a 
buck  but  a  roe  deer.  Red  Cheek  too  will  make 
her  home  in  a  Seneca  lodge  with  a  Seneca  brave 
to  call  her  squaw.  And  so  shall  the  medicine  of 
the  white  man  be  added  to  the  medicine  of  the 
red  man,  and  the  Senecas  shall  once  again  be  the 
strongest  and  the  wisest  of  the  Five  Nations.'* 

Raoul  did  not  speak  when  she  had  finished 
talking.  But  his  silence  did  not  offend  her;  it 
was  the  response  any  Indian  boy  would  have 
made  to  her  speech.  She  was  certain  his  mind 
was  filled  with  pride  at  the  thought  of  the  great 
destiny  which  awaited  him.  That  is,  so  she 
thought  for  a  moment  until,  as  by  a  sudden  in 
sight,  she  guessed  what  the  shadow  on  his  face 
meant. 

"Regret   not   your   people,    Ralo?"    she   en- 


IN  A  SENECA  LODGE  77 

treated;  "we  will  be  your  people  now  and  before 
many  moons  you  will  forget  that  you  ever  had 
another  wigwam."  When  he  shook  his  head  em 
phatically  and  she  saw  his  eyes  flash,  she  warned 
him:  "Think  not  that  you  can  escape.  You  are 
like  a  young  bird  on  a  string.  So  long  as  you 
stray  not  too  far  no  harm  will  come  to  you;  but 
if  you  seek  to  break  the  string  you  will  suffer  so 
that  the  beating  Red  Wing  gave  you  on  the  trail 
will  seem  like  a  spring  shower.  And  it  would 
hurt  Sun  Cloud  to  see  you  suffer,"  she  added  in 
a  gentler  tone. 

Raoul  rose  and  left  the  wigwam  to  hunt  for 
Denise,  to  tell  her  what  he  had  learned.  She  was 
cracking  nuts  with  a  group  of  girls,  but  came 
when  he  whistled. 

"At  least  we  may  be  thankful  that  they  do  not 
mean  to  kill  us,  Raoul,  and  perhaps  something 
will  happen  so  that  we  shall  be  rescued,"  she 
comforted. 

Already,  childlike,  she  was  accustoming  her 
self  to  her  surroundings,  and  though  she  had 
grumbled  at  a  girl's  life  in  an  Indian  lodge,  she 
was  really  not  far  from  content.  Raoul  did  not 
wish  to  sadden  her  with  the  despair  that  over 
whelmed  him  now  that  he  realized  the  fate  that 
was  in  store  for  them,  and  the  slight  chance  he 


78     WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

could  see  that  they  would  ever  get  back  among 
French  people. 

The  days  went  by  and  the  feast  of  Christmas, 
he  felt  certain,  must  have  been  passed  by  sev 
eral  weeks.  There  were  many  moments  when 
he  forgot  that  he  was  a  captive,  and  took  enjoy 
ment  in  the  games  of  lacrosse  and  other  amuse 
ments  of  his  Indian  comrades.  But  there  were 
also  many  hours  when  he  would  wander  apart  in 
the  forest  and  wonder  whether  ever  in  the  years 
to  come  he  would  dare  to  try  to  escape  and  where 
he  could  go  if  he  did.  He  and  Denise  had  de 
cided  that  this  would  be  impossible  until  they 
were  older  and  stronger  to  dream  of  making  their 
way  to  New  France,  even  if  they  could  succeed 
in  getting  away..  There  were  times  when  he 
would  sit  perfectly  motionless,  his  eyes  fixed, 
and  the  thick  forest  around  him  would  disappear 
and  he  would  see  again  the  rocky  shores  of  his 
Breton  home  so  distinctly  that  he  could  count  the 
slits  in  the  turret  of  the  old  castle.  The  Indians 
when  they  came  upon  him  at  such  times  would 
be  careful  not  to  disturb  him.  "He  is  listening 
to  the  spirits,"  they  said;  "he  will  indeed  be  the 
great  chief  our  tribe  has  need  of."  At  other 
times  the  boy  saw,  though  dimly  veiled  as  in  a 
sea  mist,  wide  level  plains  filled  with  strange 
beasts,  and  always  towards  the  horizon  shone  the 


IN  A  SENECA  LODGE  79 

waters  of  a  great  river.  He  did  not  even  wonder 
what  this  might  mean.  He  was  a  Breton  and  all 
his  people  believed  in  dreams  and  visions  and 
half-seen  glimpses  of  the  future;  but  he  did  not 
speak  of  them.  It  was  as  if  he  had  grown  years 
older  than  Denise,  and  he  realized  that  from  now 
on  it  was  he  who  must  decide  for  her  and  protect 
her  if  need  were. 

One  day  when  the  sun  had  shone  warmly  and 
the  melting  snow  spoke  of  spring  that  was  to 
come  though  winter  was  not  yet  gone,  Raoul  sat 
on  the  sandy  beach  of  the  lake.  The  sun  glist 
ened  so  on  the  frozen  surface  that  it  dazzled  his 
eyes  and  he  was  suddenly  blinded.  After  a  while 
the  blackness  vanished,  and  then  he  saw  another 
expanse  of  frozen  lake,  but  narrower  and  with 
higher  banks.  Over  this  surface  he  saw  three 
figures  toiling  wearily.  One  of  them  turned  so 
that  his  face  was  plainly  visible  and  he  heard  him 
say:  "If  Raoul  de  Larnac  were  but  with  me." 

Again  he  looked  and  there  was  nothing  before 
him  but  the  wide  space  of  diamond-flashing  ice 
hummocks  and  in  the  distance  the  dark  open  wa 
ters  of  the  lake.  Raoul  rose  and  shook  himself 
and  then  walked  to  and  fro,  thinking  and  plan 
ning  how  he  should  do  what  he  knew  he  must 
do.  When  it  was  plain  to  him  he  strolled  back 
to  the  town  with  an  exaggerated  air  of  careless 


80  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

good  humor,  and  joined  the  boys  who  were  play 
ing  with  the  dogs. 

"To-morrow  I  shall  go  forth  to  hunt  a  deer,"  he 
said,  when  they  had  tired  of  teaching  the  yelping 
animals  to  jump  and  to  fetch  the  arrows  they 
shot;  "it  is  time  indeed  that  I  show  I  can  bring 
back  real  game.  I  have  taken  a  vow  that  after 
to-morrow's  sunrise  I  will  not  eat  until  I  have 
killed  a  deer." 

His  comrades  applauded  his  resolution.  Some 
boasted  that  they  had  already  brought  back 
venison  to  their  mothers ;  others  proclaimed  their 
intention  of  doing  the  same  before  long.  Luck 
ily  none  offered  to  accompany  Raoul.  He  had 
counted  on  the  Indian  custom  which  sent  the 
hunters  out  alone  instead  of  in  company.  He 
found  Denise  baking  corncake  on  the  stones  in 
front  of  the  lodge  and  sat  down  beside  her. 

"How  funny  you  look,"  she  said,  smiling 
up  at  him  from  the  ashes,  "as  if  you  were 
just  waked  out  of  a  sleep.  What  have  you  been 
doing?" 

"Do  not  cry  out  or  let  any  sound  of  astonish 
ment  call  attention   to   us,"  he   warned.     "The 
time  has  come  for  us  to  make  our  escape,  De 
nise." 
"And  how  should  that  be?"  she  asked.  "What 


IN  A  SENECA  LODGE  81 

has  changed  since  we  last  spoke  of  the  hopeless 
ness  of  such  an  attempt?" 

"Nothing  that  I  can  explain,"  he  admitted, 
"and  yet  I  know  that  the  time  has  come.  If  I 
could  tell  you  you  would  not  understand,  De- 
nise,  for  you  are  not  of  Brittany;  but  we  know 
that  we  can  trust  to  dreams,  or  visions,  or  to  ex 
periences  such  as  I  have  had  this  day.  I  have 
told  you  strange  tales,  you  will  remember,  of 
curious  happenings  in  my  country;  of  women 
who  have  heard  the  voices  of  their  fisher  hus 
bands  as  they  were  drowning  scores  of  miles 
away;  of  warnings  and  blessings  promised  by 
unseen  presences ;  of  men  who  at  times  have  seen 
what  took  place  at  home  while  they  were  at  the 
wars.  In  this  same  mysterious  way  I  saw  to-day 
the  figure  and  face  of  Chevalier  La  Salle  of 
whom  I  have  so  often  spoken  to  you,  and  he 
turned  and  said:  'If  Raoul  de  Larnac  were  but 
with  me.'  I  know  that  this  sight  was  permitted 
me  because  I  am  meant  to  find  him.  I  have  been 
thinking  and  planning  ever  since,  and  if  you  will 
be  ready  to  do  as  I  say,  we  can  escape  to-mor 


row." 


Denise  had  listened  with  keen  interest  but  had 
been  careful  not  to  make  any  sudden  start  which 
might  betray  them  to  any  of  the  Indians  who 
were  passing  back  and  forth.  She  had  contin- 


82  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

ued  to  bake  her  cakes  until  all  the  corn  was  used 
up.  She  did  not  laugh  at  Raoul's  statement;  she 
did  not  doubt  it  in  the  slightest. 

"I  too  believe  that  you  are  right,"  she  said, 
"though  I  cannot  understand  how  such  things 
may  come  to  pass.  And  I  believe  too  that  you 
will  succeed  this  time,  but  I  know  also  that  I 
should  never  live  to  reach  home.  I  am  not  weak 
or  afraid  of  the  forest,  dear  Raoul,  but  I  see 
you  have  grown  so  much  stronger  in  these 
months  that  now  you  can  travel  much  more  rap 
idly  alone,  and  so  you  must  go  without  me." 

"That  I  will  not,"  he  cried  passionately.  "Do 
you  think  that  I  would  desert  you?  If  I  should 
be  such  a  craven  all  of  my  ancestors  would  dis 
own  me  and  I  could  never  hold  up  my  head 
again." 

"Listen,  Raoul,"  she  pleaded.  "It  will  be  for 
me  that  you  go.  If  we  both  believe  that  Seig 
neur  La  Salle  may  be  reached  by  you  in  a  few 
days,  or  even  more,  then  if  you  do  not  set  out  in 
search  of  him,  to  tell  him  that  a  French  girl  is 
held  in  captivity  by  the  Senecas,  so  that  he  and 
his  men  will  return  with  you  to  free  me,  what 
other  chance  will  ever  come  to  us?  The  Senecas 
are  not  now  at  war  with  the  French,  and  so  if 
the  Seigneur  will  come  and  demand  my  release, 
I  think  Old  Wolf  would  not  dare  refuse." 


IN  A  SENECA  LODGE  83 

Though  influenced  by  her  reasoning,  Raoul 
was  not  yet  satisfied.  Again  he  begged  her  to 
accompany  him  or  he  declared  that  he  would 
stay  behind;  but  at  last  she  brought  him  to  her 
way  of  thinking — that  it  was  for  her  that  he 
would  run  the  chance  of  many  deaths,  from  the 
Indians,  from  cold,  from  starvation,  or  other 
dangers  of  the  trackless  forests. 

ffl  shall  not  be  in  any  danger,"  she  added  as  a 
final  argument.  "I  shall  be  well  cared  for.  Al 
ready  Old  Wolf  and  Sun  Cloud  treat  me  as  their 
daughter." 

Now  that  his  going  was  decided  they  talked 
of  all  that  they  could  do.  Denise  promised  to  fill 
an  extra  wallet  with  food  as  well  as  the  one  he 
was  to  take  with  him  when  he  started  off  the  next 
morning  to  shoot  his  first  deer.  She  would  slip 
out  after  dark  and  leave  it  at  the  edge  of  the  vil 
lage  where  he  could  pick  it  up  in  the  morning. 

"Bethink  you,  Denise,  how  greatly  I  am 
changed  from  the  helpless  boy  you  befriended  a 
few  months  ago.  Now  I  have  learned  how  to 
live  in  the  forest,  how  to  kill  game,  how  to  make  a 
fire  and  where  to  take  shelter.  Nor  shall  I  ever 
forget  that  it  was  you  who  were  my  first  teacher. 
Think,"  he  continued  as  they  rose  to  go  inside 
the  wigwam,  "how  happy  your  family  will  be 
when  I  bring  you  back  to  them." 


84  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

Old  Wolf  made  no  objection  when  Raoul  told 
of  his  intention  to  go  forth  the  next  morning  to 
slay  his  deer.  Instead  the  chief  handed  the  boy 
a  bigger  bow  than  the  one  he  had  given  him  on 
his  arrival. 

"If  you  can  bend  it  it  is  yours,"  he  said.  It 
took  all  of  Raoul's  strength,  but  finally  he  suc 
ceeded.  The  chief  looked  pleased  and  showed 
him  how  firmly  the  bow  was  made.  Then  Sun 
Cloud  brought  him  a  beaded  bag  for  his  arrows. 

At  dawn  Raoul  kissed  Denise  as  she  stood  in 
the  opening  of  the  wigwam.  "Goodbye,  De 
nise,"  he  said,  "and  keep  up  your  heart.  I  will 
soon  be  back  for  you." 

And  Denise  peered  after  him  through  the 
heavy  white  mist  until  he  was  lost  to  sight. 


CHAPTER  VI 

RAOUL'S  FIRST  DEER 

LA  SALLE,  lightheaded  from  a  forty-hour 
fast,  his  eyes  dazzled  by  the  constant  glare 
of  the  ice,  his  ears  singing  with  weakness,  could 
not  believe  that  it  was  French  words  he  seemed 
to  hear  shouted  by  a  boy  in  Indian  clothes  who 
was  running  towards  him  over  the  lake  from  the 
southeast.  And  when  he  had  bade  his  men  halt 
the  sledge  and  the  boy  had  caught  up  with  them, 
La  Salle  thought  his  weakened  condition  must 
have  affected  his  brain,  because  the  Indian  lad 
wore  the  features  of  the  young  student  he  had 
first  met  in  the  King's  garden  at  Versailles. 

"It  is  I,  Seigneur  La  Salle,"  cried  Raoul  as 
well  as  he  could  for  panting.  "I  heard  you  call 
me  and  I  came.  Four  days  I  have  sought  you, 
never  doubting  that  I  should  find  you  in  the  end 
and  that  you  would  help  me." 

La  Salle  only  half   comprehended  the   boy's 

85 


86     WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

words  and  he  did  not  attempt  to  explain  them. 
His  eyes  were  fastened  on  the  hind  quarter  of  a 
deer  which  was  slung  over  his  shoulder.  Raoul 
understood  his  glance  and  exclaimed : 

"My  first  deer!  I  slew  it  three  days  ago.  Will 
you  eat?"  And  not  waiting  for  an  answer,  he 
climbed  up  the  low  bank,  found  some  twigs,  and 
soon  the  venison  was  roasting  over  a  bright  fire. 
The  strength  of  the  Frenchmen  revived  at  the 
mere  sight  and  smell  of  the  coming  dinner.  They 
left  the  sledge  and,  seating  themselves  before  the 
fire,  ate  ravenously  of  the  meat  and  of  some  bits 
of  Denise's  corn  cakes  that  were  still  left  in 
Raoul's  wallet. 

"You  were  indeed  starving,"  he  said.  "I 
thank  heaven  my  arrow  found  that  deer,  for  I 
have  seen  no  other  since.  And  now,  Seigneur, 
while  you  eat  will  you  give  ear  to  my  need  and 
that  of  a  French  maiden  who  is  looking  eagerly 
each  hour  for  your  aid?" 

"A  French  maiden?"  exclaimed  La  Salle, 
now  himself  again.  "Is  there  one  near?" 

Raoul  told  in  a  few  words  of  how  he  had  left 
Quebec  with  Pere  Antoine,  of  his  stay  at  the 
home  of  the  Dubois,  of  how  he  and  Denise  had 
been  captured,  of  their  journey  through  the  for 
est  and  on  the  rivers,  of  their  first  attempt  to  es 
cape  and  its  consequences,  and  of  how  Denise 


RAOUL'S  FIRST  DEER  87 

had  persuaded  him  four  days  before  to  leave  her 
and  go  in  search  of  help. 

La  Salle  did  not  stop  to  ask  more  about  the 
curious  belief  of  the  boy  that  he  had  called  him. 
"In  truth,"  he  thought  to  himself,  "it  must  have 
been  just  when  I  was  thinking  so  intently  about 
him  that  my  spirit  cried  out  to  him." 

"Tell  me,"  he  asked,  "how  you  escaped.  It  is 
growing  dark,  and  we  must  wait  for  daylight  be 
fore  setting  out  across  the  lake  to  rescue  your 
little  friend.  So  there  is  time  to  spare  in  which 
to  listen  to  your  adventures." 

Raoul  heaped  up  a  pile  of  wood  and  then  be 
gan:  "There's  little  enough  to  tell.  No  one 
imagined  that  I  should  be  such  a  fool  as  to  try  to 
find  my  way  alone  so  many  leagues;  and  indeed 
I  had  been  one  had  I  not  known  I  must  find  you 
here.  And  so  they  did  not  stay  me  when  I  set 
forth  to  hunt,  and  doubtless  even  now  they  be 
lieve  that  I  have  died  from  cold  or  some  accident, 
rather  than  that  I  have  run  away.  I  set  forth  at 
dawn  four  days  ago.  I  had  not  planned  in  which 
direction  to  strike  out,  therefore  I  was  content  to 
follow  the  tracks  of  a  deer.  It  was  a  young 
buck,"  he  explained  proudly,  "and  on  our  way 
back  I  will  show  you  where  I  have  hidden  the 
rest  of  his  fine  carcass.  I  think  Red  Wing 
would  not  disdain  such  a  quarry.  He  led  me  far 


88  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

but  I  was  not  weary.  I  came  up  to  him  at  last 
when  he  was  breaking  the  ice  over  a  stream  in  or 
der  to  drink.  My  arrow  hit  him  in  the  back  of  his 
neck,  and  an  hour  later  I  supped  upon  him." 

"Well  done,  young  priestling!"  cried  La 
Salle. 

"I  did  not  fear  to  sleep,"  continued  Raoul;  "I 
knew  that  I  should  not  be  expected  back  that 
night.  So  when  I  found  a  cave  I  made  a  fire  in 
it  and  slept  warm  and  comfortably.  The  next 
morning  I  cut  off  the  hind  quarters  of  my  deer 
and  set  forth,  chosing  to  walk  northward,  I 
scarce  knew  why.  Before  noon  I  heard  men's 
voices.  I  could  not  tell  whether  they  might  be 
from  the  village  in  search  of  me.  The  falling 
snow  covered  my  footsteps,  and  I  dropped  be 
hind  a  tree  stump  and  piled  the  snow  about  me 
until  I  was  all  but  covered  with  it.  The  strangers 
soon  came  abreast  of  me.  Five  there  were  of 
them,  Indians  I  had  never  seen.  They  were  not 
trying  to  walk  quietly  as  they  would  have  done 
if  they  were  on  the  warpath.  It  seemed  rather, 
I  thought,  that  they  were  bent  on  some  mission 
which  might  be  peaceful.  They  came  from  the 
opposite  direction  from  that  I  had  come,  but 
when  they  passed  I  could  not  tell  whether  they 
went  on  to  the  village  or  not.  For  one  moment  I 
thought  they  had  discovered  me;  one  of  them 


RAOUL'S  FIRST  DEER  89 

stopped  and  looked  in  my  direction  and  my  heart 
beat  rapidly,  Seigneur.  Then  I  breathed  again, 
for  they  went  on,  but  I  did  not  dare  stir  for  a 
long  while  for  fear  that  they  might  come  back, 
and  I  was  almost  frozen.  That  night  I  feared 
them  and  that  Old  Wolf  had  sent  in  search  of 
me,  so  I  could  not  make  a  fire  or  sleep.  I  walked 
all  night,  finding  a  way  somehow  through  the 
dark  forest  until  in  the  morning  I  came  out  of  it 
and  found  myself  on  the  borders  of  the  lake.  In 
my  dream  I  had  seen  you  on  the  opposite  shore, 
and  so  I  set  out  to  cross  the  lake.  I  ate  some  of 
the  food  in  my  wallet,  rested  for  an  hour,  and 
went  on.  I  scarce  remember  when  I  slept  and 
waked  during  that  day  and  night.  It  was  noon 
to-day  when  I  saw  you  far  ahead,  and  though  I 
ran  as  fast  as  I  could,  the  distance  would  not  les 
sen.  But  at  last — you  know,  Seigneur." 

"It  is  truly  a  marvel,  lad,  I  cannot  seek  to 
fathom,"  La  Salle  said  stirring  the  fire  with  his 
boot,  "our  meeting  thus.  We  will  talk  of  its 
strangeness  another  time,  but  now  tell  me,  can 
you  find  to-morrow  the  way  back  by  which  you 
came?  Though  I  have  urgent  need  to  press  on 
to  Fort  Frontenac,  it  is  a  still  more  urgent  duty 
to  rescue  the  little  lass." 

"I  can  find  the  way,"  declared  Raoul,  "and  we 
shall  return  much  more  rapidly  than  I  came;  for 


90  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

we  can  follow  the  opposite  shore  of  the  lake  until 
we  reach  the  village  without  need  to  wander 
through  the  forest.  But  I  would,  Seigneur,  that 
you  had  a  greater  force  with  you." 

"I  shall  not  need  them,"  La  Salle  asserted. 
"The  Iroquois  at  this  moment  are  not  ready  to 
go  on  the  warpath  against  the  French,  and  the 
Senecas,  your  captors,  know  that  their  confed 
erate  tribes  would  disown  their  act  should  they 
injure  me  who  am  high  in  the  favor  of  Onontio, 
as  they  call  his  Excellency,  the  Governor.  Nor 
will  they  dare  refuse  to  surrender  to  me  two 
French  children.  So  fear  not,  Raoul,  you  and 
Denise  shall  be  back  in  our  land  before  the  week 


is  over." 


The  boy  was  nodding  with  weariness,  and 
soon  was  fast  asleep.  In  the  morning  after  an 
other  meal  of  venison,  they  started,  following 
Raoul's  lead.  As  he  had  said,  the  way  proved 
much  shorter  than  his  journeyings  in  pursuit  of 
the  deer,  and  in  three  days  and  a  half  they  were 
within  sight  of  the  point  beyond  which  lay  the 
village.  Raoul  rejoiced  to  think  how  happy  De 
nise  was  soon  to  be.  He  ran  eagerly  ahead, 
rounded  the  point  and  turned  towards  the  vil 
lage.  A  cry  of  astonishment  burst  from  him — 
not  a  soul  was  to  be  seen,  not  a  curl  of  smoke  rose 
above  a  lodge,  not  even  a  dog  barked  as  the 


RAOUL'S  FIRST  DEER  91 

strangers  walked  cautiously  through  the  center 
of  the  village. 

"What  is  it?"  asked  La  Salle,  when  he  had 
peered  into  one  or  two  of  the  wigwams  and 
found  them  empty  not  only  of  their  owners,  but 
of  all  their  belongings.  "What  does  it  mean?" 

"I  do  not  know,"  replied  Raoul  dully,  his 
brain  trying  vainly  to  puzzle  out  the  cause. 

Through  every  lodge  went  the  four,  but  found 
nowhere  a  sign  of  human  life.  The  fires  were  cold 
and  there  was  an  absence  of  any  appearance  of 
a  struggle.  In  Old  Wolf's  lodge  Raoul  discov 
ered  a  good  store  of  corn  and  some  dried  meat, 
and  there  they  ate  and  slept  warmly  that  night, 
the  three  men  taking  their  turns  at  keeping 
watch.  When  they  looked  out  the  next  morn 
ing  the  ground  was  white  with  newfallen  snow. 
La  Salle  shook  his  head.  "We  have  now  lost 
all  trace  of  them,"  he  said. 

But  Raoul  would  not  believe  this.  He 
searched  the  ground  all  about  the  lodge,  circling 
around  like  a  dog.  It  was  hours  before  he  was 
forced  to  admit  that  the  storm  had  indeed  blotted 
out  every  mark  of  the  Senecas'  departure,  for 
he  felt  certain  that  they  could  not  all  have  been 
killed  without  leaving  some  trace.  "I  am  sure," 
he  said,  "that  those  Indians  who  passed  me  had 


92  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

something  to  do  with  this,  though  I  don't  know 
whether  they  were  friends  or  foes." 

"I  too  am  minded  to  think  so,"  said  La  Salle. 
"Perchance  they  were  the  bearers  of  some  tid 
ings  of  a  great  council  of  the  Five  Nations  to 
which  your  friends  were  bidden;  perhaps  they 
plan  to  invade  New  France  again.  It  must  have 
been  an  urgent  call.  Therefore  the  only  course 
for  us  now  is  to  hasten  to  Fort  Frontenac  where 
news  may  await  us." 

"But,  Seigneur,"  pleaded  Raoul,  his  eyes  full 
of  tears,  "you  will  not  desert  Denise!" 

La  Salle  laid  his  hand  on  the  boy's  shoulder 
and  said  gently:  "We  can  serve  her  best  by  go 
ing,  Raoul.  We  might  wander  here  for  a  fort 
night,  turning  in  every  direction  and  never  find 
ing  a  trace,  or  if  we  found  the  trail,  might  not 
be  able  to  come  up  with  them.  Whereas  at  the 
Fort  we  shall  in  all  likelihood  hear  some  word. 
Then  I  will  get  the  Governor  to  send  messengers 
to  the  Iroquois  demanding  the  release  of  the 
little  maiden.  There  is  no  other  way,  lad,  or  I 
would  take  it." 

Raoul  could  not  answer.  He  was  choking  at 
the  thought  of  little  Denise's  despair  when  she 
found  herself  carried  away  where  he  could  not 
reach  her.  "Why  did  I  leave  her?"  he  cried  out, 
as  once  again  he  ran  to  the  end  of  the  village  in 


RAOUL'S  FIRST  DEER  93 

a  vain  hunt  for  a  clue.  "Far  better  if  I  had 
stayed,  both  of  us  prisoners  together." 

Yet  he  made  no  further  remonstrance;  he 
could  see  the  uselessness  of  searching  longer — the 
blanket  of  snow  had  done  its  work  too  well. 
Next  morning  they  packed  the  stores  of  venison 
and  corn  on  the  sledge  and  set  off  on  the  crusted 
snow.  The  sky  was  brilliantly  blue,  and  had  it 
not  been  for  his  sorrow  and  anxiety  about  De- 
nise,  Raoul  would  have  been  happy  to  be  alive 
and  in  motion. 

La  Salle's  regret  that  he  had  not  been  able  to 
take  back  the  little  French  maiden  was  great, 
but  he  was  never  a  man  to  dwell  upon  disap 
pointments.  His  thoughts  now  sped  swiftly 
forward  to  Fort  Frontenac,  to  what  he  must  ac 
complish  there,  and  then  still  farther  forward, 
to  his  great  expedition.  His  body  was  strength 
ened  and  refreshed  by  food  and  rest,  and  he  was 
so  absorbed  in  the  future  that  he  had  almost  for 
gotten  how  these  had  come  to  him.  Etienne  and 
Robert  too  were  in  a  jolly  mood  and  made  merry 
at  each  other's  mishaps  when  the  sledge  struck 
a  stone  and  rolled  over,  spilling  its  contents. 
Raoul  could  not  escape  the  general  mood.  He 
found  himself  humming  a  fishing  song  he  had 
not  heard  for  years.  Every  now  and  then  he 
would  fix  his  eyes  on  La  Salle  and  wonder  just 


94.  WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

what  it  was  about  him  that  made  him  so  different 
from  every  other  man  he  had  ever  known.  He 
knew  only  that  he  longed  to  serve  him;  service 
was  all  the  gift  he  had  to  bestow  upon  anyone, 
and  he  pondered  what  form  he  could  give  to  his 
loyalty. 

And  so  it  was  a  shock  when  the  Seigneur,  who 
had  suddenly  remembered  his  existence,  said: 
"I  will  see,  Raoul,  that  you  shall  not  have  long 
to  wait  at  the  Fort.  Etienne  shall  accompany 
you  back  to  Quebec.  The  good  fathers  at  your 
seminary  doubtless  have  long  believed  you  dead. 
How  rejoiced  they  will  be  to  see  you  again!" 

"Must  I  go  back?"  cried  Raoul.  "Oh,  Seig 
neur,  send  me  not  back.  I  cannot  be  a  priest." 

"Are  you  in  earnest?"  asked  La  Salle,  gazing 
fixedly  at  him.  "Do  you  know  what  you  say? 
Is  this  a  sudden  whim,  the  outcry  of  a  boy  when 
the  holidays  are  over  that  he  will  not  go  back  to 
school?  Or,  tell  me,  boy,  is  it  perhaps  a  deeper 
feeling?  I  too  was  once  intended  for  the  priest 
hood.  I  was  even  known  as  Brother  Robert  Ig- 
nace;  but  I  found  I  had  not  the  vocation.  So 
if  you  have  truly  given  this  grave  matter  care 
ful  consideration,  I  would  listen  to  you  under- 
standingly.  It  is  a  great  life,  that  of  a  priest; 
greater  still  the  life  of  a  missionary  such  as  you 


RAOUL'S  FIRST  DEER  95 

wished  to  be;  yet  not  all  men  are  fitted  for  it.  I 
was  not.  Speak,"  he  commanded. 

"I  have  thought,  Seigneur.  This  is  no  sudden 
whim.  From  the  moment  I  found  myself  free  of 
the  black  robe  my  spirit  rose  free."  Raoul  spoke 
quickly,  his  fists  clenched  with  emotion.  "Let  me 
stay  with  you,  Seigneur !  Else  why  should  I  have 
heard  your  call,  and  why  should  I  have  come  to 
you  straight  as  a  bird  to  its  nest?  What  I  do, 
provided  I  shame  not  our  name,  matters  nothing 
to  anyone.  Send  me  not  back  to  the  seminary. 
Let  me  go  with  you  when  you  go  and  stay  with 
you  when  you  stay!" 

The  recollection  of  his  own  repressed  boy 
hood  spoke  to  La  Salle  in  Raoul's  voice.  To  re 
fuse  him  would  be  like  denying  his  own  claims 
to  the  freedom  to  live  the  life  he  craved.  Yet  he 
was  not  sure  that  the  boy  was  old  enough  to  real 
ize  what  he  asked. 

"Hearken,  lad,"  he  said.  "I  will  not  say  nay 
to  you  altogether.  Your  years  are  yet  too  few 
to  comprehend  the  magnitude  of  the  work  that 
lies  ahead  of  me.  For  those  who  choose  to  follow 
me  must  bear  great  hardships,  exertions  and 
disappointments;  perchance  a  fortune  will  re 
ward  them,  but  more  likely  penury.  Had  I 
sought  riches  for  myself  I  should  have  stayed 
contentedly  at  my  seigneur ie,  where  I  was  sure 


96     WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

of  twenty-five  thousand  livres  a  year.  There 
must  pass  some  weeks  at  least  before  my  affairs 
can  be  straightened  out.  During  that  time  you 
may  stay  with  me  and  consider  whether  there 
will  not  be  some  other  life,  here  or  in  France, 
which  you  would  prefer.  And  during  these 
weeks  I  shall  observe  you  more  carefully  to  see 
whether  you  have  in  you  the  stuff  of  which  ex 
plorers  are  made.  Until  the  day  before  I  plan 
to  start  back  speak  no  more  to  me  of  this;  then 
we  shall  decide!" 

Raoul  was  content  with  this  encouragement, 
and  when  they  arrived  at  Fort  Frontenac  and 
after  La  Salle  had  assigned  him  quarters,  and 
had  sent  by  his  brother,  L'Abbe  Cavelier,  news 
to  the  seminary  of  Raoul's  story,  he  seemed  to 
forget  the  boy,  who  was  free  to  occupy  his  time 
as  he  liked.  RaouFs  first  thought  was  to  obtain 
news  of  the  Senecas,  and  he  questioned  everyone, 
Frenchmen  and  Indians,  if  there  were  any  word 
of  movements  of  the  Iroquois.  Nothing  had 
been  heard,  and  even  though  La  Salle  applied 
directly  to  Governor  Frontenac,  there  was  no 
explanation  of  the  mystery  and  no  hope  of  solv 
ing  it  at  present.  Kaoul  wrote  a  long  letter  to 
Pere  Dubois,  telling  him  everything  which  had 
passed  since  he  and  Denise  had  been  carried  off, 
suggesting  that  he  take  the  letter  to  the  Gover- 


RAOUL'S  FIRST  DEER  97 

nor  and  beseech  him  to  send  to  the  chiefs  of  the 
Five  Nations,  bidding  them  restore  the  French 
maiden  they  had  stolen  or  fear  his  displeasure. 

It  was  a  very  tangled  state  of  affairs  which 
La  Salle  found  on  his  arrival.  From  the  begin 
ning  of  his  enterprise  men  had  shaken  their 
heads  and  called  it  a  fool's  expedition.  Was  not 
the  world  large  enough  already,  they  asked, 
without  spending  livres  and  lives  in  trying  to 
add  to  the  lands  of  the  King?  And  why  should 
La  Salle  believe  himself  picked  out  by  fate  to  do 
what  no  one  else  could  accomplish?  So  when  the 
news  leaked  through  of  the  wreck  of  his  supply 
ship,  those  who  had  lent  him  money  in  the 
hope  of  gaining  fortunes,  hypnotized  by  his 
eloquence  for  an  hour  from  their  usual  cau 
tion,  grew  frightened  and  determined  to  get 
back  all  they  had  ventured.  These  creditors, 
Migeon,  Charon,  Giton  and  Peloquin,  hastened 
to  seize  the  vast  stores  of  furs  which  belonged  to 
La  Salle,  and  all  his  other  property.  La  Salle 
saw  that  there  were  only  two  things  to  do :  either 
to  let  it  all  go  to  his  creditors,  or  to  waste  a  long 
time  in  Montreal  and  Quebec  endeavoring  by 
legal  means  to  get  some  of  it  back.  He  chose 
the  first.  He  was  too  eager  to  return  to  Tonty 
to  remain  away  a  day  longer  than  need  be.  Yet 
it  was  not  until  the  end  of  July  that  his  new 


98 


WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 


stores  were  got  together,  and  he  was  ready  to  set 
out.  Three  friars  were  to  accompany  him,  eager 
to  begin  their  missionary  work  among  the  In 
dians. 

The  day  before  his  departure  he  sent  for 
Raoul.  "What  is  your  decision?"  he  asked  curt 
ly,  determined  not  to  let  his  own  hope  that  the 
boy  might  go  with  him  influence  Raoul' s  choice. 

"I  would  go  with  you,  Seigneur,"  Raoul  re 
plied,  "if  you  will  take  me.  There  is  nothing  I 
desire  so  much." 

He  stood  there  quivering  with  eagerness,  won 
dering  what  the  silent  observation  to  which  he 
knew  he  had  been  subjected  for  weeks  had  led  to. 

"Very  well,"  said  La  Salle,  more  pleased  than 
he  could  understand  his  being.  "Go  to  Etienne 
and  tell  him  to  fit  you  out  properly  in  clothes 
and  equipment." 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  GRIFFIN  SPREADS  HER 
WINGS 

SOME  week  later  the  Griffin  sat  the  water  as 
lordly  as  ever  the  heraldic  beast  after  which 
she  was  named  surmounted  a  proud  baron's 
coat-of-arms.  And  Tonty's  glance  when  he 
surveyed  her  was  as  filled  with  pride  as  if  he  were 
a  mother  and  she  his  child.  La  Salle,  who  had 
listened  intently  to  all  the  mishaps  and  hardships 
his  lieutenant  had  suffered  during  his  absence, 
did  not  fail  to  give  him  due  praise  for  the  com 
pletion  of  the  vessel  despite  the  efforts  the  In 
dians  had  made  to  burn  her  on  the  stocks.  At 
last,  after  so  many  months  of  delay,  the  time  had 
come  to  set  forth  in  her.  It  was  with  genuine 
gratitude  to  heaven  for  what  had  been  accom 
plished  and  forgetfulness  of  all  the  setbacks,  that 
La  Salle  ordered  a  Te  Deum  to  be  sung  as  he 
marshaled  his  forces  aboard.  The  solemn  words 

99 


100          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

of  the  great  Latin  hymn  of  thanksgiving  were 
started  by  the  priests  and  caught  up  by  such  of 
the  men  as  were  familiar  with  them.  Raoul's 
voice  rang  out  above  all  the  others;  and  the  In 
dians  who  had  gathered  on  the  bank  to  gaze  at 
the  strange  scene,  listened,  in  delighted  wonder. 

"A  white  thrush,"  exclaimed  one  of  the  Sen 
eca  squaws,  pointing  to  him.  Curiously  enough, 
she  had  chanced  upon  the  same  name  which  had 
been  bestowed  on  him  by  the  Senecas  in  old 
Wolf's  village.  Reports  of  "the  White 
Thrush's"  singing  later  penetrated  to  Denise  in 
her  captivity,  so  that  at  last  she  was  certain  that 
Raoul  was  still  alive. 

The  Griffin,  which  had  been  laden  with  the 
precious  stores  brought  back  by  La  Salle  from 
Fort  Frontenac  the  day  before,  was  now  warped 
out  from  the  shore ;  the  gaping  Indians  saw  the 
white  sails  unfold,  then — a  flash  from  the  iron 
nose  of  the  cannon  in  the  stern  and  thunder  was 
let  loose  without  the  help  of  the  clouds.  They 
shrieked  and  ran  or  flung  themselves  flat  upon 
the  ground ;  and  by  the  time  they  had  discovered 
that  none  of  them  was  killed,  the  wind  from  the 
cast  had  tautened  the  sails  and  the  Griffin  was 
speeding  through  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie. 

"Here  sailed  never  ship  before!"  said  La  Salle 
to  Tonty  while  they  both  stood  in  the  bow.  "Had 


THE  GRIFFIN  SPREADS  HER  WINGS      101 

God  himself  known  how  fair  a  thing  a  ship  is  he 
would  have  set  Adam  and  Eve  on  one  instead  of 
in  a  garden." 

Tonty,  looking  at  his  commander,  watched  his 
nostrils  dilate  as  if  they  would  drink  in  all  the 
freshness  of  the  great  lake,  and  the  sparkle  of 
his  eyes  from  which  had  vanished  all  the  gravity 
and  the  sadness  of  the  past  month.  "It  is  as  if  he 
were  born  again/'  he  said  to  himself. 

This  was  better,  thought  Raoul,  than  the  Sen- 
ecas'  canoe  on  the  St.  Laurence.  Here  he  was 
free,  and  there  was  even  more  to  be  seen.  For 
three  days  they  sailed  onward,  the  breeze  behind 
them  never  dying  down,  and  the  spirits  of  all  on 
board  as  high  as  the  wind.  They  saw  no  human 
beings;  their  course  was  too  far  from  shore  for 
them  to  fall  in  with  any  Indian  canoes. 

On  the  fourth  day  the  lake  came  to  an  end  and 
they  passed  through  a  narrow  strait  between 
meadows.  The  wind  had  now  left  them  and  the 
legs  of  all  were  cramped  for  the  earth.  So  they 
jumped  ashore  and  hunted  for  game.  Raoul  was 
lucky  enough  to  shoot  a  wild  swan  with  his  bow, 
and  some  of  the  men  had  little  difficulty  in  kill 
ing  bears,  which  showed  so  little  timidity  that 
they  neither  ran  nor  charged  when  the  muskets 
were  pointed  at  them. 

Now  the  Griffin  stuck  her  beak  northward  in- 


102          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

to  a  smaller  lake,  so  bright  in  the  August  sun 
shine  that  they  gave  it  the  name  of  Sainte  Claire. 
Again  through  a  narrow  strait,  and  the  great 
lake  of  the  Hurons  seemed  to  Raoul  to  stretch 
before  them  to  the  very  end  of  the  world. 

"How  can  the  earth  bear  so  much  water?"  he 
asked  Father  Hennepin.  "Why  does  it  not  rot 
out  the  very  foundations  of  the  globe?" 

"And  put  out  the  fires  of  Hell?"  suggested 
the  priest,  laughing  loudly  at  his  own  joke. 
"That  will  not  come  to  pass,  at  least  not  until 
the  heathen  here  have  been  converted." 

The  pilot  looked  up  at  the  gathering  clouds  in 
the  northwest  and  shook  his  head,  as  he  said  to 
Etienne:  "I  am  a  salt-water  sailor,  and  I  do  not 
pretend  to  know  the  ways  of  these  inland  seas, 
but  if  they  are  governed  by  the  winds  as  is  the 
ocean,  then,  beshrew  me,  if  a  tempest  is  not  up 
on  us  before  the  hour  is  over." 

And  trusting  to  the  similarity  of  winds  and 
waves  everywhere,  fresh  or  salt,  he  gave  orders 
to  reef  the  sails  and  to  make  all  things  fast.  The 
tempest  was  upon  them  before  his  orders  had 
all  been  carried  out;  the  waves,  as  if  they,  like 
the  Indians,  resented  the  intrusion  of  this  new 
craft,  seemed  determined  that  it  should  sail  over 
them  no  longer.  They  dashed  the  Griffin  about 


FOR  THREE  DAYS  THEY  SAILED  ONWARD. 


THE  GRIFFIN  SPREADS  HER  WINGS      103 

so  mercilessly  that  the  seams  strained  and  took 
in  water  until  the  hull  was  all  awash. 

La  Salle,  the  last  to  believe  in  their  danger, 
was  too  clear-eyed  to  deny  it  now.  "Men,"  he 
cried  out,  "pray!  no  brave  man  shames  his  valor 
by  petitions  to  God  and  the  saints." 

He  dropped  to  his  knees,  as  did  all  but  the 
pilot,  who  called  out  angrily:  "If  you  had  left 
me  on  the  ocean  where  I  belong  I  should  not  now 
be  forced  to  drown  ignominously  in  this  fresh 
water.  Such  a  death  for  a  sailor!" 

But  no  one  paid  attention  to  him.  Father 
Hennepin  and  the  other  friars  prayed  loudly,  as 
if  they  feared  that  in  the  noise  of  the  tempest 
their  prayers  might  not  reach  the  ears  of  heaven. 

"Blessed  St.  Anthony  of  Padua,  pray  for  us," 
they  besought.  "Save  us  and  we  will  build  thee 
a  chapel,  for  we  have  chosen  thee  as  the  patron 
of  our  great  enterprise." 

Whether  the  saint  heard  or  whether  the  lake 
.and  the  winds  grew  weary  of  their  anger,  at  last 
the  waves  subsided,  the  clouds  broke  and  soon 
the  Griffin's  white  plumage  was  spread  out 
again  and  she  leaped  forward  westward,  until 
at  length  she  came  to  rest  at  Michillimackinac. 

Raoul  gazed  in  astonishment  at  the  trading 
post  and  missionary  station  of  the  Jesuits  which 
spread  out  before  him.  The  long  voyage  out  of 


104          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

sight  of  any  other  human  beings  than  his  own 
party  had  made  him  feel  that  they  had  left  all 
Frenchmen  behind  and  that,  in  the  future,  condi 
tions  would  be  different  from  any  known  to  the 
rest  of  the  world.  Now  he  saw  the  familiar  Cross 
on  the  chapel  and  the  black  robes  of  the  Jesuits 
as  they  walked  about  the  palisaded  post  or  out 
to  the  wigwams  of  the  Ottawa  Indians  not  far 
off. 

The  shot  with  which  the  Griffin  announced  her 
arrival  sent  the  Indians  running  terror-stricken 
to  the  woods,  and  the  Frenchmen  down  to  the 
shore.  As  he  looked  down  upon  them,  Raoul 
noticed  many  scowls  on  the  faces  of  the  priests 
and  on  some  of  the  coureurs  de  bois. 

"They  seem  not  over  pleased  to  see  us,"  he  re 
marked  to  Etienne. 

"They  love  not  our  commander,"  the  soldier 
explained.  "They  fear  he  is  come  to  take  from 
them  their  profitable  traffic  in  furs." 

If  La  Salle  too  saw  the  shallowness  of  the  wel 
come  accorded  him,  he  did  not  let  it  be  noticed. 
He  had  dressed  in  his  best  coat  and  doublet  and 
had  thrown  over  his  shoulders  a  cloth  mantle, 
scarlet  as  the  sun  which  hung  above  them  in  an 
autumn  haze,  and  all  bordered  with  gold.  This 
splendor  impressed  the  Indians,  who  followed 
him  and  his  men  as  they  marched,  muskets  over 


THE  GRIFFIN  SPREADS  HER  WINGS      105 

the  shoulder,  to  the  little  chapel,  there  to  re 
turn  thanks  for  their  safe  arrival.  Then  the 
savages  jumped  into  their  canoes  and  swarmed 
about  the  Griffin,  touching  her  sides  and  looking 
up  in  wonder  at  the  sails  and  in  wholesome  awe 
at  the  cannon. 

For  some  weeks  La  Salle  rested  at  Michilli- 
mackinac,  during  which  time  he  arrested  certain 
of  his  men  whom  he  had  sent  on  the  year  before 
to  make  preparations  for  his  coming.  Not  only 
had  they  not  done  what  he  had  ordered,  but  they 
had  traded  off  his  stores  to  their  own  advantage 
and  had  disloyally  roused  up  Indians  and  voy- 
ageurs  against  La  Salle.  Some  of  these  disloyal 
men  had  fled  to  the  forests  and  could  not  be 
reached,  but  the  others  La  Salle  sent  back  in 
Tonty's  command  to  the  Falls  of  Sainte  Marie. 

Raoul  was  not  old  enough  to  realize  all  the  in 
trigues  which  made  La  Salle's  heart  sore,  and 
delayed  him  in  his  search  for  the  great  river.  The 
boy  spent  much  of  his  time  with  the  traders,  who 
took  him  with  them  to  Indian  villages  nearby, 
or  to  traps  of  their  own  where  they  caught  the 
animals  whose  precious  pelts  found  their  way  to 
Quebec  and  then  across  the  seas  to  keep  warm 
the  bodies  of  French  men  and  women.  He  saw 
them  counted  out  by  the  thousands:  pelts  of 
bears,  their  dried  noses  still  sticky  with  honey; 


106          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

white  fox,  red  fox,  gray  fox,  martin,  beaver,  ot 
ter,  mink,  and  those  of  "the  children  of  the  dev 
il,"  as  the  Indians  called  the  skunk. 

But  he  was  glad  when  they  set  sail  once  again, 
on  the  other  great  lake  of  which  he  had  heard 
the  Indians  tell — Lake  Michigan.  This  time 
the  men  La  Salle  had  sent  in  advance  had  proved 
faithful,  and  there  was  a  large  store  of  furs 
awaiting  him.  He  decided  quickly:  he  would 
send  them  back  on  the  Griffin  to  pay  his  cred 
itors,  and  he  and  the  fourteen  men  who  remained 
with  him  would  be  content  to  go  on  in  canoes 
until  the  Griffin  should  return.  They  packed 
themselves  and  their  stores  into  four  large  can 
oes  and  started  on  their  southward  journey. 

Raoul  was  stepping  into  the  canoe  with 
Father  Hemiepin  when  La  Salle  motioned  to 
him  to  enter  his  own.  This  was  the  first  time 
since  they  had  left  Fort  Frontenac  that  the 
Seigneur  had  shown  any  particular  interest  in 
the  boy.  He  had  given  him  orders  on  the  Griffin 
and  at  Michillirnackinac  as  he  gave  them  to  all 
of  his  men,  but  there  had  been  no  word  of  praise 
or  blame  for  the  way  he  carried  them  out. 
Raoul  sometimes  wondered  whether  it  was  in 
deed  true  or  a  dream  that  La  Salle  had  twice,  at 
Versailles  and  in  the  deserted  Seneca  village, 
confided  in  him  so  fully.  He  longed  for  a  word 


THE  GRIFFIN  SPREADS  HER  WINGS      107 

of  simple  companionship,  for  he  missed  Denise 
more  than  he  was  aware ;  but  the  friars  were  cold 
to  him  because  they  disapproved  of  his  leaving 
the  seminary,  and  the  other  men,  with  the  excep 
tion  of  Etienne,  considered  him  still  too  much  of 
a  child.  Now  that  La  Salle  had  bidden  him  stay 
near  him  Raoul  was  content.  Perhaps  he  would 
find  the  way  to  be  of  some  small  service  to  the 
man  who  now  represented  all  he  most  admired. 

Several  times  that  afternoon  the  boy  caught 
the  grave  eyes  fixed  on  him,  and  he  wondered 
what  they  read  in  his  face.  Once  La  Salle  bade 
him  take  a  paddle,  and  though  his  back  and  arms 
grew  weary,  he  would  not  stop  when  one  of  the 
men  offered  to  replace  him.  He  had  an  idea 
that  La  Salle  meant  to  test  him  in  various  ways, 
and  that  perhaps  this  was  the  test  of  his  strength 
and  endurance.  He  was  right.  La  Salle  was 
uncertain  whether  Raoul  were  indeed  strong 
enough  to  stand  all  the  hardships  which  must  be 
looked  for  on  their  expedition. 

Just  when  Raoul  felt  that  in  another  moment 
he  would  fall  over  the  gunwale  from  exhaustion, 
La  Salle  called  out:  "Take  the  paddle,  Fran 
cois,  and  pull  with  all  your  might.  The  storm 
will  break  in  a  moment!" 

It  had  come  up  very  quickly  with  the  oncom 
ing  night.  The  heavy  clouds  made  the  water 


108         WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

still  darker,  but  La  Salle  could  discern  that  the 
other  canoes,  even  more  heavily  laden  than  his 
own,  were  in  greater  danger. 

"Keep  calling  out  to  them,  Raoul,"  he  or 
dered,  "that  they  may  not  get  separated  from  us 
and  lost  in  the  darkness."  And  in  addition  to 
doing  this,  Raoul  crawled  into  the  bow  where  he 
could  see  farthest  and  kept  crying  out  the  way 
to  keep  the  canoe  headed.  His  childhood  on  the 
Breton  coast  had  made  him  more  at  home  in  a 
boat  than  any  of  the  others. 

At  last,  when  the  canoe  was  soaked  by  the 
rain,  yet  still  kept  afloat  by  what  seemed  a  mir 
acle  each  moment,  llaoul  spied  the  beach  before 
him.  He  called  out  quickly  how  and  where  the 
boat  could  best  be  brought  in,  forgetting  in  his 
excitement  that  he  was  daring  to  give  orders  in 
La  Salle's  presence.  When  they  were  safely 
ashore  and  the  other  canoes,  with  many  narrow 
escapes,  had  followed  them,  the  Seigneur  said: 
"We  owe  our  safety  to  you,  Raoul.  You  are  a 
good  sailor." 

It  was  well  that  his  words  warmed  the  boy's 
heart,  for  it  was  all  that  was  warm  that  terrific 
night.  They  sought  such  shelter  as  they  could 
find  in  the  forest;  but  the  rain,  the  wind  and  the 
drenched  ground  made  a  fire  impossible.  The 
next  day  brought  little  improvement,  except 


THE   GRIFFIN  SPREADS  HER  WINGS      109 

that  with  the  daylight  their  spirits  rose.  They 
ate  the  corn  they  had  with  them,  as  there  was 
no  chance  of  securing  any  game  while  the  storm 
lasted.  Five  days  it  raged  until  they  felt,  as 
Etienne  expressed  it,  "like  Father  Noah  in  his 
Ark,  only  more  lonely,  for  the  beasts  are  lack- 
ing." 

When  the  storm  subsided  at  last  they  set  off 
once  again  to  the  southward;  but  the  spirits  of 
the  lake  were  still  not  done  with  the  trespassers, 
and  time  and  time  again  storms  sprang  up  sud 
denly  and  the  canoes  were  barely  saved.  Once 
the  aged  Father  Gabriel  nearly  drowned 
when  the  boat  was  almost  swamped  while  being 
beached  and  those  in  it  had  to  jump  overboard 
to  lighten  her.  Father  Hennepin  pulled  him  up 
on  his  younger  back,  and  the  two  missionaries 
laughed  loudly  and  bravely  at  the  thought  of  the 
sight  they  must  present  to  their  companions. 

"God  be  praised!  We  shall  eat  now,"  ex 
claimed  Etienne,  who  had  been  reconnoitering 
and  found  that  there  was  an  Indian  village  not 
far  from  the  shore.  "Tis  indeed  time,  for  we 
are  little  better  than  skin  and  bone." 

"We  know  not  how  they  may  receive  us," 
warned  La  Salle;  "so  you  must  go  prepared  for 
anything.  Be  armed  for  war,  but  carry  a  peace 
pipe  along." 


110          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

Etienne,  Francois  and  Raoul  were  selected 
to  go  to  get  the  supplies.  "I  think  they  are 
frightened  away,"  said  Raoul  when  they  had 
come  to  the  lodges  and  found  no  one  there.  It 
recalled  to  him  the  sight  of  the  Seneca  village 
when  he  had  gone  back  to  free  Denise,  and  his 
heart  was  heavy  at  the  thought  of  her.  They 
entered  cautiously,  but  no  one  opposed  them. 
They  found  corn  and  other  food  and  helped 
themselves. 

"Let  them  not  complain  that  Frenchmen  are 
thieves,"  said  Francois  as  he  laid  on  the  ground 
some  beads  and  small  mirrors  which  La  Salle 
had  brought  for  barter  with  the  Indians. 

As  they  descended  the  hill  Raoul  saw  that  La 
Salle  and  his  men  were  almost  surrounded  by 
savages.  He  could  hear  his  commander  har 
anguing  them  and  enough  of  his  words  came  to 
him  for  him  to  realize  that  the  Indians,  uncer 
tain  of  the  Frenchmen's  intentions,  were  ready 
any  second  to  fit  arrows  to  the  bows  they  held. 
He  seized  the  peace  pipe  Fra^ois  had  tucked 
under  his  arm  to  leave  his  hands  free  for  carry 
ing  the  food,  and  brandishing  it  like  a  weapon 
before  him,  ran  rapidly  down  the  hill,  shouting  in 
the  Seneca  tongue  as  he  ran,  and  hoping  that  it 
would  be  understood:  "Behold!  we  come  in 
peace,  brothers!" 


THE  GRIFFIN  SPREADS  HER  WINGS      111 

The  Indians  caught  sight  of  him  and  cried  out 
in  joy:  "Peace  then,  brothers;  we  will  share  our 
food  with  you." 

Thus  another  danger  passed,  but  new  ones  fol 
lowed.  The  storms  continued,  and  starvation 
threatened  several  times.  Sometimes  as  they  jour 
neyed  on,  they  bought  food  from  the  Indians  on 
the  shore;  once  they  were  lucky  enough  to  find 
the  carcass  of  a  deer  which  the  wolves  had  half 
devoured.  Once1  the  Outagamis  stole  from  them 
at  night  and  La  Salle,  knowing  that  his  prestige 
would  suffer  if  he  allowed  this  to  pass,  bravely 
advanced  with  his  eleven  men  against  one  hun 
dred  and  twenty  savages  and  persuaded  them  to 
pay  for  what  they  had  taken.  It  was  November 
before  they  reached  the  end  of  the  lake,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river  of  the  Miamis.  Here  La 
Salle  determined  to  wait  for  Tonty. 

Etienne,  who  had  been  with  La  Salle  ever 
since  he  had  first  been  granted  his  Seigneurie  at 
La  Chine,  did  not  hesitate  to  speak  plainly  to 
his  commander  whenever  he  thought  it  neces 
sary.  Now  he  sought  him  as  he  sat  beside  a  fire 
which  Raoul  was  feeding  with  driftwood. 

"Seigneur,"  he  said,  "it  is  but  right  that  you 
should  know  what  the  men  are  saying — though  I 
would  have  you  be  sure  that  I  echo  not  their 
words.  They  declare  that  they  will  not  stay  here 


112          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

where  the  waters  are  freezing  and  where  the 
fierce  winds  will  soon  be  sweeping  down  the 
frozen  lake.  They  say  that  you  must  push  on 
now  to  the  villages  of  the  Illinois  where  the  In 
dians  can  give  us  shelter  and  food." 

La  Salle  did  not  hesitate  with  his  reply.  "Go 
back  to  them,  Etienne,  and  say  that  it  is  I,  not 
they,  who  give  commands  on  this  expedition.  Let 
them  push  on  if  they  will;  here  will  I  stay  with 
the  friars  until  Tonty  joins  us.  Let  them  leave 
me  if  they  will,  and  you  too,  Etienne,  and  you 
too,  Raoul,  make  your  choice." 

"Seigneur!"  cried  Raoul,  springing  from  his 
knees.  "You  do  not  believe  I  would  desert 
you?" 

"Nay,  I  do  not  think  that,"  said  La  Salle,  a 
slight  smile  in  the  corner  of  his  lips,  "and  I  sup 
pose,  Etienne  wishes  me  to  say  the  same  to 
him." 

When  the  others  heard  La  Salle's  message 
they  grumbled  and  cried  out  that  they  would 
freeze  and  starve  if  they  stayed.  Nevertheless, 
they  were  well  aware  that  they  could  not  go  on 
to  the  Illinois  alone,  so  they  remained;  and  dur 
ing  their  waiting  for  Tonty  La  Salle  kept  them 
so  busy  building  a  fort  on  an  elevation  at  the 


THE  GRIFFIN  SPREADS  HER  WINGS      113 

river's  mouth  (now  the  St.  Joseph)  that  they 
were  too  warm  to  freeze,  and  luck  with  their 
guns  put  an  end  for  the  present  to  all  fear  of 
starvation. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

AMONG  THE  ILLINOIS 

IT  was  La  Salle  himself  who  first  caught  sight 
of  Tonty  returning,  and  he  welcomed  him 
heartily. 

"It  does  me  good  to  see  you,  friend,"  he  ex 
claimed,  shaking  him  vigorously  by  the  shoul 
ders.  "There  were  a  thousand  deaths  I  pictured 
you  dying  when  you  came  not.  But  you  are 
grown  so  thin  and  look  so  weary!  And  where 
are  the  rest  of  your  men?" 

"We  had  not  food  enough  for  all,"  replied  the 
Italian  as  he  sat  down  and  drank  eagerly  the  hot 
venison  broth  which  Raoul  had  hastened  to  bring 
him;  "and  so  I  was  forced  to  leave  half  of  them 
thirty  leagues  behind  to  hunt  for  game  while  we 
pushed  on,  knowing  how  anxiously  you  must  be 
awaiting  us." 

"Then  to-morrow,  when  you  have  rested  and 
eaten,  it  will  be  best  for  you,  who  alone  know 

114 


AMONG  THE  ILLINOIS  115 

the  way,  to  return  with  provisions  for  them  and 
bid  them  hasten  hither,"  said  La  Salle.  "We 
must  delay  no  longer." 

Tonty  did  not  complain,  though  he  might 
have  considered  himself  entitled  to  a  longer  rest. 
Taking  two  men  with  him  and  as  much  food  as 
they  could  carry  in  the  canoe,  he  was  off  at 
dawn  the  next  day. 

A  few  days  later  he  returned  a  second  time, 
ravenous  and  sad  with  the  tale  of  further  mis 
fortunes:  of  how  he  had  tried  to  bring  his  boat 
ashore  in  a  storm  and  it  had  upset,  spilling  out 
their  guns  and  food,  so  that  they  were  forced  to 
return  to  the  fort  or  die  of  slow  starvation  on 
their  diet  of  acorns.  La  Salle's  determination  to 
wait  a  little  longer  was  rewarded,  for  the  rest  of 
the  men  Tonty  had  left  behind,  with  the  excep 
tion  of  two  who  had  deserted,  straggled  wearily 
into  the  fort  a  few  days  later. 

One  of  the  men  who  came  with  Tonty,  called 
Duplessis,  weakened  by  his  privations  and  dis 
appointed  that  La  Salle  had  not  spent  the  time 
of  waiting  in  gathering  a  store  of  skins,  from 
the  proceeds  of  which  he  hoped  to  gain  a  goodly 
share,  showed  his  displeasure  openly,  and  re 
marked  to  everyone  that  he  regretted  he  had  not 
been  as  wise  as  his  companions  who  had  deserted. 
As  a  punishment,  La  Salle  bade  him  do  extra 


116          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

work  in  loading  the  canoes  for  the  journey  and 
threatened  to  leave  him  behind  if  he  did  not  keep 
silence.  No  more  of  his  complaints  were  heard, 
but  Raoul,  who  slept  in  his  hut  at  night,  often 
caught  the  sound  of  angry  mutter  ings. 

As  the  month  of  December  opened  La  Salle 
regretfully  announced :  "We  can  wait  no  longer 
for  the  Griffin.  Where  has  our  fine  bird  flown? 
I  would  we  knew,  but  we  must  go  on  without 
her." 

The  thirty-three  men,  Frenchmen,  Canadians 
and  the  Mohegan  Indian,  La  Salle's  guide,  took 
their  places  in  the  eight  canoes  that  were  filled 
to  the  danger  point  with  food,  goods  and  am 
munition.  Though  the  world  was  a  dreary  one 
through  which  they  went,  gray  sky,  gray  river, 
and  a  line  of  dark  forests  against  the  horizon 
bordering  the  flat  land  which  stretched  to  the 
river,  the  hearts  of  all  were  lightened  with  their 
movement  and  the  knowledge  that  once  again 
they  were  on  their  way  in  search  of  fame  and 
fortune.  Raoul  was  again  ordered  into  the  same 
canoe  with  La  Salle.  He  performed  the  same 
kind  of  work  as  did  the  men,  but  La  Salle  saw 
that  he  undertook  no  more  than  was  fit  for  a 
boy's  strength.  He  spoke  to  him  but  seldom. 
Raoul  often  dreamed  of  wonderful  conversa 
tions  he  would  like  to  hold  with  him,  yet  when 


AMONG  THE  ILLINOIS  117 

they  were  alone  he  had  never  the  courage  to  be 
gin  them.  His  hope  was  that  some  day  he  might 
be  able  to  show,  if  not  by  word,  then  by  deed, 
how  strong  was  his  affection  and  loyalty  to  his 
commander. 

"It  should  be  near  here,"  commented  La 
Salle,  looking  anxiously  across  the  meadows  in 
the  distance  towards  the  flash  of  water  under  a 
sudden  burst  of  winter  sunshine,  "the  portage  to 
the  river  of  the  Illinois.  I  will  jump  out  and  go 
yonder  to  the  woods  and  see." 

"May  I  come  too,  Seigneur?"  asked  Raoul. 

"Nay,"  replied  La  Salle  as  he  leaped  ashore; 
"go  and  bid  Tonty  wait  here  until  I  return." 

As  the  hours  wore  on  and  there  was  no  sign 
of  La  Salle,  Tonty  could  not  conceal  his  anx 
iety.  He  ordered  everyone  ashore,  had  fires 
built  both  for  warmth  and  to  serve  as  a  beacon, 
and  then  as  night  fell,  he  bade  two  or  three  sen 
tries  fire  their  guns  at  intervals.  Raoul  could 
not  sleep  and  begged  Tonty  to  allow  him  to  set 
off  in  search  of  La  Salle,  but  Tonty  wisely  re 
fused  to  permit  any  search  to  be  made  before 
daylight. 

When  he  entered  the  woods  La  Salle  believed 
that  the  portage  could  not  be  more  than  half  an 
hour  distant.  He  set  out  lustily,  singing  as  he 
went,  in  the  direction  he  thought  to  find  it. 


118          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

When  he  came  out  of  the  wood  on  the  other 
side  he  discovered  that  for  once  his  strong  sense 
of  direction  had  failed  him,  the  falling  snow  had 
made  it  difficult  to  see  far  in  advance.  A  large 
swamp  opened  before  him,  unfrozen  and  im 
passable.  There  was  nothing  to  do  but  to  go 
around  it,  and  still  singing,  as  was  his  wont  at 
times  when  alone,  he  turned  back  into  the  for 
est.  At  last  he  was  forced  to  confess  to  himself 
that  he  was  lost;  nevertheless,  he  did  not  des 
pair  of  soon  finding  either  the  portage  or  the 
camp.  Night  had  come  and  he  thought  how 
anxious  Tonty  must  be.  He  had  walked  stead 
ily  for  hours,  but  he  dared  not  rest. 

At  last  the  trees  thinned  ahead  of  him  and  he 
caught  the  faint  gleam  of  the  river.  A  few 
steps  farther  on  there  shone  the  glow  of  a  fire. 
Sure  now  that  he  had  come  out  near  his  men,  he 
fired  his  gun. 

"Tonty  keeps  a  bad  watch!"  he  cried  out  when 
there  was  no  answering  signal.  He  ran  for 
ward,  and  to  his  amazement,  when  he  reached 
the  fire,  there  was  no  sign  of  his  companions, 
but  in  the  grass,  close  to  the  smoldering  logs, 
an  impression  showing  some  man  had  been  lying 
there. 

"Hola!"  he  cried  in  the  Iroquois  tongue, 
"where  art  thou,  friend?"  There  was  no  re- 


AMONG  THE  ILLINOIS  lid 

sponse,  so  he  voiced  his  question  in  the  tongue  of 
the  Miamis,  then  of  the  Pottawattamies,  and, 
one  after  the  other,  in  all  the  Indian  languages 
he  knew.  "Well  then,"  he  said  aloud  in  French, 
"if  thou  hast  no  need  of  thy  bed,  I  have,  and 
many  thanks  for  the  fire." 

He  gathered  more  wood  and  threw  it  on  the 
blaze  and  picked  up  armfuls  of  crackling  bushes 
with  which  he  encircled  his  bivouac  to  announce 
the  approach  of  any  footstep.  Then  he  lay 
down  as  calmly  as  he  would  have  done  in  his 
own  room  at  Fort  Frontenac  and  soon  was 
asleep. 

He  did  not  see  the  Indian,  who  had  crept  to 
peer  at  him,  draw  his  knife  to  stab  the  white  man 
to  the  heart;  nor  did  he  feel  him  as  he  hesitated 
and  finally  glided  away,  convinced  that  the 
Frenchman's  medicine  was  indeed  stronger  than 
the  medicine  of  the  Indian,  or  he  would  never 
sleep  so  soundly. 

La  Salle  woke  late  next  morning  and,  in  spite 
of  hunger,  stiffness  and  the  uncertainty  of  his 
whereabouts,  he  was  happier  than  he  had  been 
for  many  a  day.  Here,  in  the  silence  of  the 
forest,  his  anxieties  dropped  away  from  him. 
He  felt  young,  strong,  equal  to  everything.  He 
laughed  as  he  walked  along  to  see  two  opossums 
hanging  heads  down  from  the  branch  of  a  small 


120          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

oak.  He  picked  up  a  stick  and  smote  them  a 
tremendous  blow,  and  when  they  were  dead  he 
hung  them  by  their  tails  to  his  belt.  Thus  dec 
orated,  he  walked  along  the  river  bank,  know 
ing  that  soon  now  he  must  fall  in  with  his  com 
panions. 

At  four  that  afternoon  they  saw  him  coming 
and  cried  out  in  welcome  and  relief.  Soon  the 
'possums  were  spilling  their  fat  into  the  fire  and 
Beaver  Tail,  the  Mohegan  hunter,  at  La  Salle's 
command,  divided  their  meat  so  that  everyone 
had  a  portion.  Beaver  Tail  explained  that  he 
had  been  off  hunting  when  La  Salle  set  out  in 
search  of  the  portage.  When  morning  came  he 
could  lead  them  to  it  without  delay. 

Raoul's  anxiety  during  La  Salle's  absence 
had  been  greater  than  that  of  any  of  the  others, 
because  in  addition  to  the  anxiety  he  shared  with 
them,  he  was  worried  by  the  feeling  of  some  im 
pending  peril  which  for  days  had  given  him  no 
peace.  He  did  not  know  from  what  direction 
he  expected  the  danger  to  come,  but  in  his 
broken  dreams  at  night  and  half -dreams  during 
the  day  it  was  always  the  Seigneur  over  whom 
it  hung.  When  he  did  not  return  from  the  for 
est  Raoul  had  caught  a  sneering  smile  on  the 
lips  of  Duplessis,  and  the  boy  wondered  whether 
he  might  have  anything  to  do  with  his  command- 


AMONG  THE  ILLINOIS  121 

er's  absence.  He  did  not  let  the  man  out  of  his 
sight  that  night;  but  La  Salle's  story  of  his 
wanderings  proved  that  his  suspicion  had  been 
unfounded. 

The  next  morning  the  contents  of  the  canoes 
were  distributed  among  the  men,  the  canoes 
themselves  being  carried  on  their  heads.  Led  by 
Beaver  Tail,  they  started  to  traverse  the  five 
miles  to  the  next  portage.  La  Salle  followed 
behind  the  Mohegan;  then  came  Etienne,  then 
Fran9ois  and  then  Raoul,  and  behind  them  the 
rest  of  the  party,  with  Tonty  at  the  rear. 

Raoul  caught  sight  of  a  number  of  strange 
skulls  and  bones  scattered  over  the  plain  wher 
ever  the  wind  had  blown  away  the  snow. 

"They  are  too  big  for  deer,"  he  said  perplex 
edly  when  he  had  run  to  the  top  of  a  hillock  to 
observe  them  better. 

"They  belonged  to  creatures  called  'buffa 
loes',"  explained  Etienne.  "They  are  said  to 
be  as  thick  as  ants  farther  down  the  river.  We'll 
have  sport  enough  shooting  them  and  good  meat 
a-plenty." 

When  Raoul  again  looked  ahead  of  him,  he 
was  surprised  to  see  that  Duplessis  now  walked 
before  Etienne.  Once  again  his  vague  suspicion 
was  aroused.  He  ran  ahead  with  another  ques 
tion  to  Etienne,  and  after  the  man  had  an- 


122          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

swered,  Raoul  slipped  naturally  into  the  file 
ahead  of  him.  Now  nothing  in  the  desolate 
landscape  took  his  gaze  from  Duplessis.  He 
could  hear  the  man  muttering  angrily  to  him 
self,  though  in  a  tone  so  quiet  that  it  did  not 
reach  the  ears  of  La  Salle  just  ahead.  They 
now  came  to  a  turn  in  the  trail,  so  that  those  in 
the  rear  for  one  moment  would  be  out  of  sight  of 
the  ones  who  were  around  the  corner.  Raoul 
felt  that  the  time  which  he  had  dreaded  had 
come.  He  ran  lightly  around  the  curve  and, 
though  his  feet  seemed  to  him  lead-shodden,  he 
rushed  up  to  Duplessis  just  in  time  to  knock  up 
the  gun  which  he  was  pointing  directly  at  La 
Salle's  back. 

Its  report  was  the  first  intimation  La  Salle 
had  of  his  danger.  He  turned  and  saw  in  an 
instant  what  had  happened.  The  rear  division 
hastened  up,  and  Duplessis  and  Raoul  were  sur 
rounded. 

"What  has  happened?"  they  cried  excitedly. 
"Did  your  gun  burst?" 

"I  saw  him  aiming  at  the  Seigneur,"  Raoul 
explained,  without  saying  anything  about  how 
he  had  suspected  Duplessis;  "and  I  knocked  the 
gun  from  his  hand." 

'Tis  a  pity  you  did  not  turn  it  on  the  trait 
or's  heart,"  cried  Etienne,  and  Beaver  Tail  fin- 


AMONG  THE  ILLINOIS  123 

gered  the  knife  in  his  belt  as  if  it  longed  for  a 
certain  scalp  lock. 

Duplessis  stood  trembling  and  looked  bewil 
dered  like  one  awakened  suddenly  from  sleep. 
Father  Hennepin  took  him  aside,  and  soon 
afterwards  came  to  La  Salle  to  report  that 
Duplessis  had  confessed  that  the  evil  spirit 
which  he  had  harbored  for  days  had  now  left 
him  entirely  and  that  he  besought  La  Salle  for 
forgiveness. 

"Your  penitent  may  be  telling  the  truth  or  it 
may  be  a  lie,  Father,"  said  La  Salle;  "but  it  is 
best  to  act  as  if  we  believed  him,  since  we  have 
no  jail  here.  I  will  leave  it  to  you  to  give  him 
such  penances  and  fastings  as  you  see  fit." 

Then  he  bade  Beaver  Tail  start  on  again  and 
called  Raoul  to  his  side. 

"You  have  put  me  in  your  debt,  lad,"  he  said, 
laying  his  hand  on  his  shoulder,  "as  you  did  be 
fore  on  Lake  Erie.  I  do  not  think  his  bullet 
would  have  killed  me,  for  my  work  is  not  yet 
done,  but  I  am  pleased  that  it  was  you  who  sent 
it  in  a  different  direction." 

Raoul's  happiness  at  these  words  was  like  that 
he  had  dreamed  of  knowing  some  day.  La 
Salle  continued:  "Are  you  still  glad  to  be  with 
this  expedition,  to  wander  still  for  many  months 
in  search  of  my  river,  or  do  you  wish  you  were 


124          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

back  in  the  Seneca  lodge  with  the  little  maiden?" 

"There  is  nothing  in  the  world  I  would  rather 
do  than  go  with  you,  Seigneur,"  Raoul  replied; 
"and  yet  there  are  times  when  I  feel  as  if  I  had 
deserted  Denise.  Think  you  we  shall  ever  hear 
of  her  again?  Not  an  Indian  have  we  passed 
that  I  have  not  asked  for  news  of  the  Five  Na 
tions,  in  the  hope  that  I  might  gain  some  clue." 

Though  La  Salle  had  no  belief  that  the  child 
was  still  alive,  he  promised  that  whenever  pos 
sible  he  would  make  enquiries  about  her. 

"Here  is  the  river  Theakiki!"  cried  Beaver 
Tail,  pointing  to  a  slow  running  current  be 
tween  rushes  and  leafless  bushes,  scarcely  wider 
than  hundreds  of  the  pools  in  the  swampy  land 
through  which  it  meandered.  Once  again  the 
canoes  were  afloat  and  before  nightfall  the  river 
of  the  Illinois  (the  Theakiki)  had  widened  and 
deepened  and  flowed  more  rapidly.  "Riviere 
Divine"  La  Salle  called  it. 

It  was  a  bleak  country  through  which  they 
passed  now  day  after  day.  Sometimes  in  the 
distance  a  glow  of  fire  or  smoke  betrayed  the 
Indian  hunters.  Beaver  Tail  had  little  luck,  and 
the  fare  of  all  was  scant. 

"Look!"  cried  Raoul,  one  day  when  they  were 
near  the  verge  of  starvation.  "See  yonder  that 
great  beast  caught  in  the  swamp!" 


AMONG  THE  ILLINOIS  125 

"Buffalo!"  yelled  Beaver  Tail,  springing 
ashore  and  shooting  two  arrows,  which  found 
their  mark.  The  huge  creature  struggled  a  few 
seconds  longer  before  he  expired.  Obeying 
Beaver  Tail's  orders,  they  managed  to  fasten  a 
rope  securely  about  the  carcass,  upon  which 
twelve  men  pulled  until  they  had  dragged  the 
buffalo  to  firm  ground,  where  they  cut  it  up  and 
feasted  heartily. 

One  day  they  saw  an  Indian  town  of  between 
four  or  five  hundred  lodges,  completely  de 
serted.  "They  are  off  on  their  winter  hunt,"  ex 
plained  Beaver  Tail,  and  Raoul  could  not  help 
wondering  whether  a  like  cause  might  not  have 
accounted  for  the  deserted  village  of  the  Sen- 
ecas  when  he  and  La  Salle  had  gone  to  rescue 
Denise. 

"These  Illinois  tribes  when  we  do  find  them 
are  not  likely  to  treat  us  kindly,"  said  Francois 
who  was  making  a  pair  of  moccasins  for  him 
self  according  to  the  Mohegan  fashion  Beaver 
Tail  had  shown  him.  "We  shall  have  trouble 
yet,  and  Raoul,  here,  will  be  crying  for  his 
mother." 

Raoul  started  to  reply  angrily,  but  Etienne 
took  his  part:  "Let  the  lad  alone,  Fra^ois. 
I'll  wager  you  were  less  of  a  man  than  he  at  his 
age." 


126         WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

"We've  no  use  for  children,"  growled  Fran- 
9ois.  "He  holds  us  back,  and  we  might  have 
missed  this  storm  if  he  had  not  fallen  ill  yester 
day." 

It  was  true  that  Raoul  had  been  overcome 
with  a  sharp  fever  the  day  before,  and  one  of 
the  friars  who  acted  as  physician  to  the  expedi 
tion  said  that  a  day's  rest  was  absolutely  neces 
sary  for  him.  So  La  Salle  sent  some  of  the 
men  out  to  shoot  ducks  while  they  waited.  Raoul 
knew  that  Francois,  who  had  always  shown  him 
ill  will,  was  glad  of  another  excuse  to  find  fault 
with  him.  He  made  up  his  mind  that  some  day 
the  voyageur  should  acknowledge  that  he  had 
done  far  more  to  help  than  to  hinder  the  ex 
pedition. 

It  was  a  day  or  two  after  they  had  celebrated 
New  Year  as  best  they  could  that  the  river 
widened  out  to  a  lake  the  Indians  called  Pimi- 
toui  (now  Peoria). 

"See!"  pointed  Beaver  Tail,  "smoke!  There 
are  many  lodges." 

La  Salle  quickly  made  his  preparations.  The 
river,  he  saw,  had  narrowed  again,  and  the  wig 
wams  of  the  Illinois  lined  both  banks.  "We 
shall  be  ready  for  them  if  they  wish  war,"  he 
said.  "Tonty,  take  you  the  right  bank  and 


AMONG  THE  ILLINOIS  127 

train  your  guns  on  them,  and  I  will  see  to  the 
left  bank." 

The  paddles  were  dropped,  and  the  small 
cannon  and  muskets  bristled  over  the  sides  of 
the  eight  canoes  as  the  stream  bore  them  rapidly 
into  the  camp. 

For  a  few  seconds  Raoul's  heart  was  beating 
loudly  and  every  moment  he  awaited  a  whizzing 
of  arrows.  But  the  loud  cries  from  the  Indians 
were  those  of  surprise  and  excitement,  rather 
than  the  war-whoop,  he  discovered.  They  had 
been  taken  so  unexpectedly  that,  though  a  few 
ran  for  their  weapons,  most  of  them  stood  wait 
ing  to  see  what  the  white  men  would  do. 

"Watch!"  whispered  Etienne  to  Raoul.  "The 
Seigneur  will  once  again  prove  himself  the  lead 
er  we  know  him  to  be.  He  has  no  fear,  and  it 
is  the  knowledge  of  this  which  makes  the  Indians 
respect  him.  There  is  no  other  man  living,  not 
Count  Frontenac  himself,  who  can  handle  the 
redskins  as  he  can.  Watch!" 

La  Salle  gave  a  word  of  command  and  then 
sprang  on  the  shore.  Though  Raoul's  shoul 
der  blades  already  seemed  to  feel  an  arrow,  he 
followed  with  the  rest  of  the  men  and  stood  with 
them  when  they  halted,  each  making  sure  that 
his  gun  was  ready  to  use. 


128          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

"He  does  not  seek  to  make  friends,"  whis 
pered  Etienne  again.  "He  knows,  lad,  how 
much  it  is  to  our  advantage  to  let  them  take  the 
first  step." 

And  indeed,  seeing  that  the  French  com 
mander  stood  still  as  a  stone,  the  Indians  saw 
that  they  must  act.  Two  chiefs  brought  for 
ward  a  peace  pipe  and  another  called  out  to  the 
young  warriors  on  the  opposite  bank  not  to 
shoot  the  arrows  they  had  already  notched.  La 
Salle,  now  certain  that  they  desired  peace, 
handed  his  musket  to  Beaver  Tail,  and  taking 
a  calumet  from  him,  walked  towards  the  chiefs. 

Now  all  was  changed.  The  Indians  threw 
down  their  bows  and,  shouting  cries  of  welcome, 
crowded  about  the  French  and  led  the  way  to 
the  guest  wigwam,  where  a  feast  was  hurriedly 
prepared. 

"This  bear's  meat  is  good,"  admitted  Etienne 
to  Raoul,  "and  so  is  this  corn  cake ;  but  I  declare 
I  would  prefer  to  find  my  own  mouth  than  to 
have  a  dirty  savage  shove  them  to  my  teeth  in  his 
fists." 

Raoul,  knowing  more  of  the  Indian  ways, 
thanked  his  host  for  his  hospitality  when  a  par 
ticularly  fine  morsel  was  placed  on  his  tongue, 
and  the  Indian  started  at  the  sound  of  the  Sen- 


AMONG  THE  ILLINOIS  129 

eca  words  the  boy  used,  though  he  seemed  to 
understand  them. 

La  Salle  now  distributed  among  the  chiefs 
tobacco  and  shining  hatchets,  and  then  rose  to 
make  his  speech.  His  usual  reserve,  which  his 
enemies  called  coldness  and  pride,  always  left 
him  when  he  treated  with  the  Indians.  He 
knew  instinctively,  as  no  other  man  of  his  day, 
unless  it  were  Count  Frontenac,  how  to  ap 
proach  them,  how  to  touch  their  feelings  and  to 
make  them  do  his  will. 

"My  friends,"  he  began,  "we  thank  you  for 
your  food ;  yet  it  is  not  the  first  time  that  we  have 
eaten  corn  from  the  lodges  of  the  Illinois. 
When  we  were  starving  we  entered  your  lodges, 
for  we  knew  that  no  man  of  your  nation  would 
ever  fail  to  give  food  to  hungry  travelers.  But 
we  found  your  hearthfires  cold  and  your  squaws 
absent.  Nevertheless,  like  squirrels  who  lay  by 
nuts  for  the  winter,  they  had  laid  by  stores  of 
corn  and  dried  meat.  These  we  took  and  ate. 
We  left  behind  presents  in  their  stead,  but  if 
your  squaws  ask  for  more  I  will  see  that  they  are 
satisfied,  for  I,  La  Salle,  am  a  friend  to  the  In 
dians  and  would  not  despoil  them  of  a  grain  of 
their  corn." 

There  was  a  murmur  of  approval  but  it  was 
not  intended  as  an  interruption. 


130          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

"I  am  come,"  continued  La  Salle,  "to  tell 
you  that  we  are  journeying  to  the  great  river 
which  flows  to  the  great  waters  far  off  in  the 
south,  where  we  shall  find  food  and  goods.  With 
these  we  will  gladden  the  hearts  of  the  Illinois 
and  brighten  their  wigwams.  We  come  too  to 
defend  you  against  your  enemies.  We  are  at 
peace  with  the  Iroquois,  the  Five  Nations;  but 
should  they  take  the  warpath  against  you,  we, 
the  French,  will  fight  with  you.  See,  our  guns 
which  spit  fire  and  death.  They  shall  be  for 
your  safety  as  are  your  own  bows  if  you  will 
give  us  a  piece  of  land  where  we  may  make  a 
home  for  them  and  surround  them  with  pali 
sades.  I  will  build  too  a  great  canoe,  as  much 
larger  than  your  war  canoes  as  an  oak  is  greater 
than  an  alder  bush.  In  this  we  shall  travel 
swiftly  down  the  great  river  and  back  again. 
But,"  he  said,  pausing  a  moment,  "if  you  desire 
not  to  be  friends  with  La  Salle  and  will  not  help 
him  build  his  canoe  and  his  fort,  then  will  he 
pass  on  to  the  Osages,  who  will  be  greedy  to  re 
ceive  the  goods  we  shall  bring  back  with  us,  and 
who  will  be  glad  to  sleep  peacefully,  knowing 
that  the  arrows  of  their  foes  will  not  trouble 
them  while  Frenchmen  watch." 

"Nay!  Go  not  to  the  Osages,"  said  a  chief  as 


AMONG  THE  ILLINOIS  131 

La  Salle  sat  down.    "We  are  your  friends,  and 
your  plans  shall  be  our  plans." 

The  other  chiefs  echoed  his  words  and  de 
clared  that  the  French  chief  had  only  to  speak 
to  have  what  he  willed.  Now  that  this  was  set 
tled,  there  was  more  feasting  and  dancing,  un 
til  Raoul  fell  asleep  from  the  heat  and  weariness. 


CHAPTER  IX 

TREACHERY 

PERHAPS  because  of  his  deep  sleep  earlier 
in  the  evening,  Raoul  found  himself 
strangely  wakeful  towards  morning,  in  the  lodge 
which  he  shared  with  half  of  the  Frenchmen.  It 
was  so  stiflingly  hot  from  the  big  fire  still  burning 
in  the  center  that  he  crept  over  his  sleeping  com 
panions  and  went  outside  for  a  breath  of  air. 
The  crispness  of  the  snow  underfoot  and  the 
bright  stars  above  seemed  to  him  far  more  desir 
able  than  the  crowded  wigwam.  Fearing  no 
harm  from  the  Indians,  he  strolled  quietly 
through  the  village.  As  he  came  opposite  the 
guest  lodge  where  they  had  been  feasted  that 
afternoon,  he  heard  a  voice  inside  and  caught 
the  words  "Frenchmen"  and  "Iroquois."  He 
knew  that  a  meeting  at  this  time  of  night  would 
never  be  held  except  for  some  unusual  cause, 
and  he  determined  to  find  out  what  it  betokened. 

132 


TREACHERY  133 

He  drew  carefully  into  the  shadow  and  threw 
himself  down  on  his  stomach.  He  crept  closer 
to  the  lodge,  and  after  fingering  the  bark  cov 
ering,  was  successful  in  finding  a  spot  where  it 
did  not  quite  lap.  He  put  his  eye  to  the  hole 
and  could  see  all  the  chiefs  in  council,  even 
Omawha,  whom  La  Salle  had  delighted  by  the 
gift  of  two  hatchets  and  three  knives.  They 
were  smoking  solemnly,  eyes  and  ears  fixed  on 
an  Indian  who  was  standing  before  them.  Raoul 
saw  that  he  was  of  a  different  tribe,  and  later 
he  heard  one  of  the  Illinois  call  him  Monso,  the 
Mascoutin.  With  him  were  six  strange  Indians 
who  bore  some  knives  and  kettles  which  they 
could  have  secured  only  from  Frenchmen. 
These  were  evidently  presents  to  the  Illinois. 

Raoul  felt  certain  that  what  was  being  said 
within  the  lodge  was  of  vital  importance  to  La 
Salle  and  the  expedition,  and  he  wished  with  all 
his  heart  that  his  commander  were  there  to  listen 
to  the  speeches.  He  acknowledged  to  himself 
that  he  was  afraid  to  stay  where  he  was ;  if  there 
were  indeed  plotting  against  the  Frenchmen  go 
ing  on  and  he  were  discovered,  his  fate  would  be 
a  terrible  one.  He  trembled  to  stay — but  he 
stayed,  trembling.  He  heard  Monso  say  how 
he  had  been  sent  by  certain  of  the  French  far 
away  at  Quebec,  who  had  the  good  of  their  Illi- 


134          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

nois  brothers  at  heart,  and  with  presents  that  he 
might  prove  to  them  this  friendship.  He  had 
come  to  warn  them,  he  said,  against  this  man  La 
Salle.  "He  is  a  spy  of  the  Iroquois,"  he  de 
clared,  "and  he  goes  down  the  Great  River  in  or 
der  to  bribe  the  tribes  to  the  west  and  south  to 
make  war  against  you,  so  that  between  those 
tribes  and  the  hog-eating  Iroquois  you  Illinois 
shall  be  crushed  as  a  squaw  crushes  maize  be 
tween  two  stones.  If  you  would  not  perish  thus, 
be  sure  then — so  council  you  your  friends  who 
send  these  presents — that  you  do  not  let  this  spy 
and  his  men  pass  onward." 

Raoul  could  see  that  Monso's  words  had  made 
a  distinct  impression  and  the  chiefs,  speaking 
slowly  one  after  another,  promised  to  heed  the 
warning  and  to  find  a  way  to  put  obstacles  in 
the  path  of  the  Frenchman.  Then  Monso  and 
his  men  rose  and  went  quietly  out  of  the  lodge 
and  hurried  away  out  of  the  village,  so 
that  by  morning  there  might  be  no  sign 
of  their  presence.  Raoul  crept  back  cau 
tiously,  fearfully,  on  his  stomach,  until  he 
dared  get  up  and  run.  Then  he  made  for  the 
lodge  where  he  knew  he  would  find  La  Salle. 
He  touched  him  gently  on  the  arm,  not  even 
waking  Tonty  who  slept  near.  He  whispered 
what  he  had  heard  and  seen. 


TREACHERY  135 

"So  mine  enemies  found  me  out  even  here!5* 
exclaimed  La  Salle  bitterly.  "Yet  shall  they 
not  triumph  over  me.  Once  again  thanks,  my 
lad.  It  is  another  service  you  have  rendered  me. 
Go  back  now" — he  went  to  the  opening  and 
peered  out  to  see  if  anyone  were  near — "it  were 
better  that  no  one  should  even  know  that  we 
have  spoken  together." 

In  the  morning  Omawha  stood  at  the  opening 
of  La  Salle's  lodge.  When  the  Frenchman  had 
greeted  him  and  bade  him  enter,  he  told  him  of 
Monso  and  what  had  been  said  at  the  council  the 
night  before.  "This,"  he  said  gravely,  "I  tell 
you  because  you  are  my  friend." 

La  Salle  thanked  him  and  gave  him  a  string 
of  beads  for  his  squaw,  but  did  not  say  that  he 
had  known  this  before. 

When  La  Salle  and  Tonty  sallied  forth  from 
their  lodge  they  affected  to  believe  that  all  was 
well;  that  the  Illinois  were  ready  to  fulfil  their 
promises  of  the  day  before.  But  the  manner  of 
the  Indians  was  so  different,  almost  hostile,  that 
Tonty  remarked  it,  and  La  Salle  explained  the 
cause. 

That  afternoon  one  of  the  chiefs,  Nicanope, 
invited  them  to  a  big  feast  at  his  wigwam.  He 
did  not  say  that  his  tribe  would  not  help  the 
Frenchmen  on  their  way  to  the  Great  River,  but 


136          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

he  said  that  he  felt  it  right  to  warn  them  of  the 
great  dangers  before  them  if  they  persisted  in 
traveling  down  the  river. 

"There  are  man-eating  alligators  and  other 
terrible  beasts  which  will  not  let  you  pass;  there 
are  whirlpools  so  strong  that  no  canoe  can  live 
through  them;  and  even  should  you  escape  these 
dangers,  the  banks  are  lined  with  savage  tribes 
so  fierce  that  all  other  tribes  dread  them,  and 
against  their  poisoned  arrows  nothing  can  avail." 

La  Salle's  voice  was  low  and  troubled  as  he 
said  to  Tonty:  "I  would  that  none  of  my  men 
understood  the  Indian  tongue.  Those  that  un 
derstand  are  translating  for  the  others,  and  look, 
how  they  are  affected  by  what  they  hear."  Then 
he  rose  and  turned  to  the  chiefs  and  said : 

"I  thank  you  for  your  warning  given  to  me  in 
friendship ;  yet  if  in  truth  there  be  these  dangers 
awaiting  us,  so  much  the  greater  will  be  the  hon 
or  of  our  journey;  and  no  Frenchman  ever  fears 
anything  that  may  threaten.  But,  my  friends, 
perchance  it  is  that  you  have  not  known  the  real 
truths  about  the  river;  have  not  the  Illinois  lis 
tened  to  lies?  Do  they  think  that  La  Salle  slept 
while  Monso  crept  through  the  dark  last  night 
to  lie  to  you  that  we  were  spies  of  the  Iroquois? 
He  knows  where  lie  hidden  the  presents  which 


TREACHERY  137 

Monso  gave  you  as  a  reward  for  trying  to 
frighten  us!" 

Even  the  stolidity  of  the  Indian  nature  was 
not  complete  enough  to  enable  them  to  listen  un 
moved  to  these  words.  Their  faces  showed  their 
amazement,  though  they  sought  to  hide  it.  They 
did  not  understand  how  the  French  leader  could 
have  discovered  so  much. 

La  Salle  continued:  "If  Monso  had  spoken 
the  truth,  would  he  show  his  face  only  in  the 
dark?  If  I  were  a  spy  of  the  Iroquois,  would  it 
not  have  been  easy  for  me  to  have  slain  you 
while  your  young  braves  were  away  on  the  hunt  ? 
Have  we  brought  harm  to  you,  or  bright  hatchets 
and  sharp  knives  such  as  your  stone  hammers 
cannot  fashion?  If  you  do  not  desire  our  friend 
ship  say  so  without  fear,  but  if  you  be  our  friends 
go  fetch  this  lying  Monso  and  I  will  show  you 
that  he  speaks  not  the  truth." 

The  Indians  had  listened  with  deep  interest 
to  the  Frenchman's  speech,  and  some  of  them 
were  convinced,  and  the  others  thought  it  at  least 
well  to  appear  so.  Therefore  the  feast  v/as  re 
sumed  and  good  feeling  seemed  to  reign.  But 
La  Salle  was  not  sure  of  their  intentions  and 
took  pains  to  guard  his  men. 

That  night  there  was  another  secret  meeting, 
but  this  time  it  was  not  the  Indians,  but  certain 


138          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

of  the  Frenchmen,  who  met  together  to  declare 
that  they  would  not  risk  their  lives  further  by 
accompanying  a  madman  into  such  dangers  as 
the  Indians  had  pictured.  Then  they  stole  sil 
ently  out  of  the  village  and  started  back  north, 
to  a  world  and  men  that  were  familiar  to  them. 

"Tonty!"  exclaimed  La  Salle  when  he  learned 
the  next  morning  of  these  desertions,  "this  real 
ity  is  worse  than  any  imaginary  danger.  I  fear 
not  death;  I  cry  not  when  I  am  hungry,  cold 
or  weary,  but  now  indeed  must  I  complain  of 
the  evil  which  has  befallen  me — that  my  men  in 
whom  I  trusted  have  deserted  me!" 

He  called  the  others  together  and  said  that  if 
there  were  any  among  them  who  still  feared  to 
accompany  him  he  would  allow  them  to  return 
to  Canada  as  soon  as  the  winter  was  over. 

"Whom  can  I  trust?"  he  asked  Tonty  bitterly. 

Raoul  longed  to  tell  him  how  the  desertion  of 
the  others  had  made  his  own  loyalty  the  stronger, 
as  if  he  would  make  up  for  the  shortcomings  of 
those  who  had  left,  but  he  could  not  find  cour 
age  to  put  his  thoughts  into  words.  That  noon 
it  was  the  boy's  duty  to  fetch  La  Salle's  dinner 
from  the  lodge,  just  across  the  street  which  ran 
down  the  center  of  the  village,  where  the  squaws 
cooked  all  the  food  for  the  white  guests.  A 
savory  portion  of  venison  was  poured  into  a 


TREACHERY  139 

large  gourd  and,  because  it  was  hot  to  hold, 
Raoul  laid  it  down  by  the  entrance  of  the  lodge 
while  he  went  back  to  get  another  gourd  of  fish 
which  a  second  squaw  handed  him. 

"I  never  tasted  better  venison  in  my  life," 
commented  La  Salle  when  Raoul  had  brought 
it  to  him,  for  like  all  the  others  in  the  expedi 
tion  since  they  left  Fort  Frontenac,  he  had  us 
ually  had  far  more  appetite  than  food  to  satisfy 
it.  But  not  half  an  hour  later  he  was  seized  with 
terrible  cramps  and  his  face  was  twisted  with 
pain. 

"I  am  poisoned,  Tonty,"  he  cried;  "they  have 
poisoned  me!" 

Raoul  was  in  front  of  the  lodge  when  Tonty 
rushed  out  and  bade  him  fetch  Etienne  as 
swiftly  as  possible.  The  burly  voyageur  was  soon 
there,  and  Tonty  left  him  to  watch  La  Salle 
while  he  prepared  a  drink  with  a  precious  pow 
der  which  had  been  given  him  in  Italy  as  an  anti 
dote  for  poison.  The  two  men  hung  anxiously 
over  La  Salle  to  await  the  results.  Before  long 
they  were  relieved  to  discover  that  the  cramps 
were  disappearing  and  that  their  leader's  body 
was  growing  less  rigid. 

While  Raoul  stood  outside  the  lodge,  not 
knowing  what  had  happened,  believing  that  it 


140          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

was  only  some  matter  of  every-day  orders  for 
which  Etienne  was  wanted,  an  Indian  strolled 
by,  snapping  his  fingers  at  his  dog  who  kept 
jumping  up  in  the  air  in  recognition  of  his  mas 
ter's  notice.  The  man  seemed  to  pay  no  atten 
tion  to  the  white  boy,  yet  as  he  passed  he  re 
peated  in  a  low  voice  the  words:  "White 
Thrush,  White  Thrush." 

Raoul  started,  for  this  name  was  that  by  which 
he  had  been  known  to  the  Senecas  as  well  as 
that  of  "Halo,"  and  he  glanced  quickly  at  the 
Indian  to  see  if  he  were  a  member  of  that  tribe. 
But  his  leggings  and  the  way  he  wore  his  hair 
proclaimed  an  Illinois.  Yet  he  felt  sure  that  the 
Indian  had  spoken  the  words  with  design.  He 
started  to  run  after  him,  his  heart  beating  with 
excitement  at  the  thought  that  perhaps  he  might 
hear  some  news  of  the  Senecas  and  of  Denise. 
Then  he  remembered  that  this  was  not  the  way 
to  gain  what  he  wanted  from  an  Indian,  so  he 
stood  still  and  let  the  man  pass  on.  A  few  mo 
ments  later,  as  if  moved  by  mere  curiosity,  he 
strolled  down  the  village,  stopping  to  look  in  at 
the  lodges  where  braves  and  squaws  were  sit 
ting  around  the  fires,  but  never  allowing  the 
man  ahead  to  get  out  of  sight.  He  followed  un 
til  he  entered  the  edge  of  a  wood  which  almost 
bordered  the  river,  where  snow-covered  ever- 


TREACHERY  141 

greens  imposed  an  effective  barrier  between  it 
and  the  village.  Here  he  found  the  Indian 
seated  on  a  rock,  cuffing  his  dog  good  naturedly. 
He  did  not  even  look  up  as  Raoul  ap 
proached  and  asked: 

"You  are  no  Seneca?" 

"Can  White  Thrush  not  see,"  he  answered, 
"that  I  am  an  Illinois?" 

"Yet  you  are  speaking  in  the  Seneca  tongue," 
said  the  bewildered  boy. 

"I  have  friends  in  the  tribe,"  he  explained. 

"Tell  me,"  cried  Raoul,  "the  news  you  bear 
of  them,  since  you  call  me  by  the  name  they  gave 
me.  What  befell  the  family  of  Old  Wolf  and 
Red  Wing?" 

"Was  there  no  other  name  you  have  not 
spoken?"  asked  the  Indian,  now  looking  squarely 
into  RaouFs  face. 

"In  truth,  I  do  desire  news  of  the  French 
maiden  who  abode  in  the  lodge  of  Old  Wolf," 
he  answered.  "Have  you  news  of  her  for  me? 
Be  quick;  I  have  waited  so  long  for  it." 

"I  have  no  news,"  the  Indian  said,  rising  and 
walking  towards  the  village. 

"But  you  brought  not  White  Thrush  here  for 
naught,"  protested  Raoul;  and  he  would  have 
liked  to  cry  with  disappointment. 


142          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

"If  you  would  meet  those  who  have  news  of 
your  friends  you  must  travel  farther.  Yonder 
towards  the  north,"  he  pointed,  "there  are  those 
you  may  meet  and  question  ere  the  Sun  sleeps." 

He  walked  away,  snapping  his  fingers  at  his 
dog,  back  to  the  village,  while  Raoul  ran  in  the 
opposite  direction,  in  haste  to  learn  of  Denise 
and  to  get  back  to  La  Salle. 

When  La  Salle  came  to  himself  again  out  of 
the  depths  of  agony,  he  saw  about  him  the  anx 
ious  faces  of  Tonty,  Etienne  and  Fra^ois.  They 
brightened  as  his  eyes  opened  and  smiled  wanly 
at  them. 

"They  did  not  kill  me,"  were  his  first  words; 
"but  to  think  that  it  should  have  been  one  of  my 
own  men,  one  with  whom  I  have  shared  dangers 
in  the  wilderness  and  broken  bread,  who  desires 
my  death!  It  cuts  me  to  the  heart,  my  friends. 
Who  can  it  be  and  wherefore?"  Then  he  sank 
back  on  the  skins  they  had  laid  out  for  him, 
weakened  by  the  exertion  of  talking.  Tonty 
thought  it  his  duty,  now  that  La  Salle  was  out 
of  danger,  to  waste  no  more  time  in  searching  for 
the  man  who  had  done  the  dastardly  deed.  So 
taking  Etienne  with  him,  he  bade  Fra^ois 
watch  the  Seigneur. 

Soon  La  Salle's  native  vigor  began  to  assert 


TREACHERY  14,3 

itself  and  he  sat  up.  Francois  came  and 
crouched  down  on  the  floor  beside  him. 

"Would  you  know,"  he  said,  "whom  to  sus 
pect,  look  to  the  one  who  brought  you  food." 

"What,  Raoul!"  cried  La  Salle.  "Be  not  a 
fool,  Francois.  As  soon  suspect  an  angel  as 
that  lad.". 

Francois  did  not  attempt  to  remonstrate.  He 
spoke  quietly  as  if  only  thinking  aloud:  "No 
one  else  handled  the  gourd  from  the  minute  the 
squaw  filled  it  from  the  kettle  from  which  we 
all  ate  until  it  reached  your  mouth." 

"Cease,"  commanded  La  Salle.  "I  will  not 
listen  to  such  words.  Thrice  the  lad  has  done  me 
great  service;  why  should  he  seek  now  to  kill 
me?  You  are  jealous,  Fra^ois,  because  I  love 
him." 

La  Salle  had  hit  the  truth.  Until  the  coming 
of  Raoul,  Francois  had  been  the  youngest  mem 
ber  of  the  expedition,  the  son  of  one  of  La 
Salle's  tenants  at  La  Chine,  he  had  made  much 
of  the  sturdy,  brave  boy,  and  had  taken  him  on 
many  journeys  and  hunting  trips.  He  had 
found  him  zealous  and  eager  to  serve  him,  but 
black-tempered  and  remorseless  as  a  savage,  and 
jealous  of  favor  which  his  Seigneur  showed  to 
others. 

"You  are  jealous,   Fra^ois,"   La   Salle  re- 


144          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

peated.  "That  flatters  me,  but  I  will  not  per 
mit  your  jealousy  to  injure  another.  You  will 
see  that  the  real  criminal  will  soon  betray  him 
self,  and  you  will  live  to  see  Raoul  grow  into  a 
man  we  shall  all  be  proud  of.  Breathe  not  a 
word  of  your  unjust  suspicions  to  anyone,  and  in 
particular  not  to  the  boy." 

He  spoke  sharply  in  the  voice  of  command 
which  even  Francois  knew  could  not  be  disputed. 
Nevertheless,  he  could  not  help  replying:  "I 
shall  have  no  chance  of  saying  anything  to  him; 
you  will  see  that  he  will  not  return  to  be  caught." 

La  Salle  was  angry  at  this  persistence  but  said 
nothing  more.  His  mind  kept  going  over,  one 
by  one,  the  members  of  his  party.  Sadly  he  con 
fessed  to  himself  that  there  were  not  more  than 
half  a  dozen  of  whose  innocence  he  could  be  sure. 
Tonty  and  Etienne  returned  no  wiser  than  they 
went. 

"Where  is  Raoul?"  asked  La  Salle  as  evening 
came. 

No  one  could  tell;  no  one  had  seen  him  since 
noon.  The  following  day  there  was  no  sign  of 
him,  nor  the  day  after  that.  Then  an  Indian 
who  returned  from  the  hunt  related  that  he  had 
met  several  Frenchmen  traveling  northward 
and  with  them  was  a  boy. 

"The  traitors!"  cried  La  Salle,  "and  Raoul 


TREACHERY  145 

with  them!  I  had  not  believed  the  lad  would 
desert  me  if  my  guardian  angel  had  foretold 
it.  I  had  thought  him  one  who  could  be 
trusted  to  the  utmost.  But  this  wilderness  is  a 
stronger  poison  than  that  given  to  me.  It  kills 
loyalty!" 

Though  he  was  forced  to  admit  Raoul's 
treachery  in  deserting  him,  he  would  not  believe 
that  it  was  he  who  had  sought  to  take  his  life, 
and  he  waited  for  the  future  to  disclose  the  crim 
inals.  As  soon  as  the  snow  thawed  he  and 
Father  Hennepin  set  forth  for  the  site  of  the 
fort  the  Illinois  had  promised  to  permit  them  to 
build. 

"We  will  call  it  Fort  Crevecceur"  (Fort 
Breakheart,  near  the  site  of  the  present  city  of 
Peoria),  declared  La  Salle;  "yet  mine  is  not  yet 
broken  in  spite  of  all  our  disasters." 

The  latest  of  these  disasters  was  his  convic 
tion  that  the  Griffin  was  really  lost.  He  was 
never  to  learn  what  had  really  been  her  fate. 
When  he  reluctantly  became  convinced  that  the 
vessel  would  not  return,  he  realized  that,  since 
there  was  no  chance  of  the  supplies  on  board  her 
ever  reaching  him,  he  must  once  again  return  to 
Fort  Frontenac  to  secure  others.  He  sent  Fath 
er  Hennepin  to  explore  the  river  Illinois  to  the 


146 


WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 


mouth,  and  leaving  Tonty  and  the  rest  of  the 
party  in  the  village,  he  set  off  with  Beaver  Tail 
and  four  others  once  again  on  the  long  journey 
back  to  Montreal. 


CHAPTER  X 

TONTY  IN  DANGER 

WHEN  Raoul  had  run  for  half  an  hour 
northward  along  the  trail  he  caught 
sight  of  the  blaze  of  a  fire  and  of  the  five  or  six 
figures  bending  over  it.  Now  for  the  first  time 
it  came  to  him  how  unwise  he  had  been  to  leave 
the  village  without  telling  anyone  of  where  he 
was  going,  or  without  knowing  whom  he  was 
seeking.  For  a  moment  he  thought  of  turning 
back,  but  the  possibility  that  in  a  few  moments 
he  might  gain  news  of  Denise,  even  at  cost  of 
danger  to  himself,  made  him  go  on.  To  his 
amazement  as  he  approached  the  group  he  heard 
French  words  and  saw  that  it  was  not  Indians, 
but  Frenchmen  who  had  been  warming  them 
selves — the  very  men  who  had  deserted! 

They  looked  up  and  called  to  him ;  made  place 
for  him  before  the  fire  and  put  a  piece  of  freshly- 
cooked  turkey  in  his  hand. 

"Welcome,  White  Thrush!"  they  cried,  smil 
ing.  "Forgive  us  for  our  ruse,  but  we  were  cer- 

147 


148          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

tain  that  your  curiosity  would  bring  you  to  us, 
for  you  have  talked  so  much  about  your  captors 
that  we  knew  all  about  your  adventures." 

"Have  you  in  truth  no  news  of  the  Senecas 
for  me?"  cried  Raoul,  his  disappointment  al 
most  choking  him. 

"None,  save  that  perchance  you  may  find 
them  if  you  throw  in  your  lot  with  us." 

"What  are  you  doing  here?"  Raoul  demanded, 
a  note  of  authority  ringing  in  his  voice  which  to 
the  deserters  seemed  an  echo  of  La  Salle's.  "Do 
you  not  know  that  the  Seigneur  is  awaiting 
you?" 

"He  is  no  longer  our  Seigneur,"  answered  a 
tall  coureur  de  bois.  "We  are  our  own  lords 
now,  and  we  will  no  longer  waste  our  days  and 
endanger  our  lives  hunting  for  some  river  that 
belongs  to  the  devil.  We  know  where  fortunes 
can  be  made  nearer  at  home." 

Raoul  started  to  cry  out  his  opinion  of  this 
treachery,  but  Poiret  waved  his  hand  to  silence 
him,  and  a  smile  broke  over  his  face,  so  jolly 
that  it  was  difficult  for  the  boy  to  consider  him 
a  traitor  while  he  looked  at  it. 

"Let  that  be,"  said  Poiret  softly  as  if  sooth 
ing  an  angry  child.  "We  know  that  we  are 
naughty  boys  who  have  run  away,  but  that  won't 
make  us  go  back  again.  We  have  other  plans 


TONTY  IN  DANGER  149 

— we  are  bound  north,  and  we  shall  pick  out  a 
nice  little  country  which  the  Jesuits  haven't  yet 
combed  for  converts  and  pelts;  and  we  and  all 
those  who  like  to  join  us  shall  hunt  for  martins 
and  foxes,  and  all  the  nice  little  beasties  the  good 
God  gave  warm  coats  to.  And  we  shall  skin 
them  and  sell  them  to  the  Iroquois;  and  our 
friend  La  Salle,  or  even  the  Governor  himself, 
won't  be  able  to  prevent  it.  And  we  shall  grow 
rich  and  buy  ourselves  seigneuries  too,  if  it  likes 


us." 


He  recited  this  as  glibly  as  if  it  were  some 
thing  he  had  learned  by  heart,  and  his  compan 
ions  nodded  in  assent  and  clapped  their  hands. 

"What  have  I  to  do  with  such  cowards  and 
slothful  men  as  you,"  asked  Raoul  scornfully, 
"who  prefer  to  break  faith  in  order  to  make  a 
fortune?  Why  did  you  bring  me  here;  you 
could  never  imagine  that  I  would  become  one  of 
you?" 

"Who  wants  a  baby?"  sneered  one  who  had 
not  spoken  before. 

"The  baby  can  read  and  draw  up  letters  and 
write  down  accounts,  which  is  more  than  any  of 
us  can  do,  Antoine,"  commented  Poiret  sooth 
ingly,  and  turning  to  Raoul,  he  clapped  him  on 
the  shoulder:  "That  is  why  we  need  you,  lad, 
when  we  trade  with  the  Dutch  and  the  English. 


150          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

Don't  get  angry  but  think  what  a  life  it  will  be 
for  you.  If  you  love  the  woods,  as  we  all  do, 
there  will  be  days  and  nights  of  trapping  and 
shooting;  if  you  wish  money  the  pelts  will  bring 
it  to  you ;  and  if  you  are  ambitious,  who  knows— 
you  are  a  noble — but  that  when  you  grow  up  we 
may  choose  you  to  rule  us." 

"It  is  little  you  know  of  nobles,"  said  Raoul 
disdainfully,  "if  you  think  that  they  desert  their 
leaders  in  the  face  of  danger.  I  will  waste  no 
more  time  with  you,"  and  he  jumped  up  and 
started  to  run  back  in  the  direction  he  had  come, 
suddenly  realizing  how  long  he  had  been  gone. 

"Not  so  quick,  young  Hothead!"  cried  Poiret, 
catching  hold  of  his  jacket  as  he  passed.  "Do 
you  imagine  that  you  are  going  back  to  tell  La 
Salle  our  whereabouts  and  our  plans?  If  you 
will  not  join  us  voluntarily  you  must  at  least 
bear  with  our  company  until  we  are  many 
leagues  from  here." 

Raoul  looked  around  at  the  men  to  see  whether 
they  were  supporting  Poiret's  words.  There 
was  no  sign  of  dissent ;  indeed,  the  expression  on 
their  faces  was  so  sinister  that  he  turned  from 
them  to  the  smiling  Poiret. 

"We  have  no  desire  to  harm  you,  lad,"  he  said, 
and  Raoul  knew  that  he  spoke  the  truth  as  far 
as  his  own  intentions  were  concerned;  "but 


TONTY  IN  DANGER  151 

neither  can  we  let  you  harm  us,  so  you  will  not 
be  allowed  out  of  our  sight." 

There  was  no  use  pleading,  and  nothing  to  do 
but  to  follow  when  Poiret  gave  the  order  to  set 
off.  That  night  several  more  deserters  joined 
them.  As  they  tramped  northward  Raoul's 
heart  was  heavier  than  it  had  been  even  when  he 
was  the  captive  of  the  Senecas  and  not  know 
ing  whether  the  savages  meant  to  torture  and 
kill  him.  Now  he  was  in  no  real  danger,  but  he 
could  think  of  nothing  save  what  La  Salle  would 
be  thinking  of  his  disappearance.  Would  he 
believe  that  he  too  had  deserted  him,  that  he  had 
turned  away  from  sharing  his  dangers  and  hard 
ships?  He  was  almost  wild  at  this  possibility. 

For  several  days  he  trudged  along,  speaking 
to  no  one,  though  Poiret  tried  often  to  rouse 
him.  All  the  time  he  watched  in  vain  for  an 
opportunity  to  escape,  but  every  one  of  the  men 
had  made  himself  his  jailer,  and  there  was  not 
a  minute  of  the  day  that  some  eyes  were  not 
on  him.  At  night  Poiret  made  him  sleep 
between  him  and  Antoine,  and  every  time 
he  moved  one  of  them  was  sure  to  wake 
up.  But  it  would  be  during  the  night,  he 
knew,  that  he  must  make  his  escape,  if  at  all, 
and  he  recalled  the  night  when  he  and  Denise 
had  thought  to  evade  Red  Wing. 


152          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

The  fatigue  of  three  days'  almost  uninter 
rupted  travel  at  last  made  Poiret  sleep  heavily, 
and  the  knowledge  that  they  had  come  so  far 
induced  him  to  believe  that  the  boy  would  not 
dream  of  trying  to  find  the  way  back  alone  to 
the  Illinois  village.  Raoul,  always  on  the  look 
out  for  an  opportunity,  noticed  that  Antoine, 
still  sleeping,  had  rolled  over  near  the  warmth 
of  the  fire  and  left  a  free  space  of  ground  be 
tween  him  and  Poiret.  The  careless  deserters 
had  set  no  guard,  so  Raoul  rose  and,  creeping 
gently  as  an  Indian,  wound  his  way  between 
them,  and  by  the  time  day  dawned  he  was 
several  miles  away. 

An  ankle  twisted  in  a  fall  on  a  frozen  pond 
hidden  by  thick  snow  delayed  him;  he  saw  no 
game  and  moreover  had  no  method  of  killing  if 
he  had  seen  it.  Warmth  at  night  at  least  was 
his;  where  there  was  dry  wood  he  no  longer 
needed  a  tinder-box  to  set  it  ablaze.  But  it  was 
a  wan,  hungry  boy  who  limped  into  the  Illinois 
village  at  last,  his  heart  beating  at  the  thought 
of  the  meeting  with  the  Seigneur.  The  Indians 
stared  at  him  but  said  nothing  as  he  made  for 
La  Salle's  lodge.  He  found  Tonty  inside. 

"Where  is  the  Seigneur?"  he  asked  as  the  Ital 
ian  cried  out  in  amazement: 

"You?" 


TONTY  IN  DANGER  153 

"The  Seigneur?"  he  repeated. 

"He  is  gone,  back  to  Fort  Frontenac,"  Tonty 


"Gone!"  Raoul  ejaculated  as  if  he  could  not 
comprehend  the  meaning  of  the  word.  "Gone! 
What  did  he  think  of  me?" 

And  Tonty  told  him  all;  how  La  Salle  be 
lieved  that  he  had  deserted  him;  how  Francois 
had  accused  him  of  having  poisoned  his  master. 
Raoul  was  so  overwhelmed  by  this  additional 
disaster  that  he  could  not  speak  for  a  moment. 
At  last  he  asked: 

"Did  he  believe  that?" 

"That  you  had  poisoned  him?  No,"  the  Ital 
ian  answered.  "He  declared,  and  I  agreed  with 
him,  that  it  was  impossible  to  conceive  you  a 
murderer." 

"It  was  Duplessis,  I  believe,"  Raoul  remarked 
after  thinking  awhile.  "I  read  again  the  signs 
of  guilt  in  his  face  when  we  were  together  there 
in  the  woods.  He  must  have  poured  the  poison 
into  the  food  during  the  one  moment  I  left  the 
gourd  at  the  opening  of  the  wigwam." 

Tonty  questioned  him  about  the  deserters;  so 
Raoul  related  all  that  had  happened  from  the 
moment  the  Indian  had  spoken  the  words 
"White  Thrush,"  and  Tonty,  whose  generous 


154    WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

heart  pitied  the  boy's  distress,  sought  to  console 
him. 

It  was  a  day  or  two  later  that  two  of  the  men 
returned  with  a  message  to  Tonty  from  La  Salle 
— that  he  should  make  a  stronghold  of  the  great 
cliff  above  the  Illinois  village,  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Vermilion  river,  about  which  they  had  often 
spoken  together  as  a  natural  fortification  of  un 
usual  value.  So  the  Italian,  leaving  most  of  his 
command  at  the  village,  set  off  with  the  others. 
While  he  was  gone  the  malcontents,  freed  from 
the  stern  rule  of  La  Salle  and  Tonty,  talked 
openly  of  their  discontent,  of  how,  even  if  they 
should  survive  the  dangers  of  the  expedition, 
their  wages  would  never  be  paid  since  La  Salle 
was  bankrupt.  Raoul  was  troubled  by  this,  but 
there  was  nothing  he  could  do.  And  one  morn 
ing  when  he  awoke  he  found  that  the  wigwams 
where  the  Frenchmen  had  been  lodged  were 
empty  of  themselves,  of  the  food,  ammunition 
and  all  the  other  stored  supplies.  While  he 
stood  there  in  dismay  he  was  joined  by  young 
Sieur  de  Boisrondet,  whom  Tonty  had  left  in 
command  during  his  absence. 

"They  too  have  deserted  us,"  exclaimed  the 
young  noble.  "How  many  of  us  are  left?" 

"There  are  the  two  friars,"  Raoul  answered, 


TONTY  IN  DANGER  165 

"and  two  more  men  who  are  faithful — six  in 
all." 

De  Boisrondet  lost  no  time  in  hastening  to  the 
rock,  and  soon  Tonty,  having  sent  four  of  those 
who  were  with  him  to  speed  with  the  news  to 
La  Salle,  returned  to  the  village. 

"What  is  this  written  on  the  side  of  our  poor 
ship?"  he  queried  as  he  examined  the  hull  of  the 
successor  of  the  Griffin  which  was  destined  never 
to  be  completed. 

"  'We  are  all  savages/  "  read  Raoul.  "They 
have  burned  the  words  in  as  a  message  to  us.  I 
wonder  if  they  have  joined  the  others.  Poiret 
probably  knew  that  they  were  coming  and  waited 
for  them.  But  what  shall  we  do  now,  Sieur 
Tonty?  Shall  we  go  back  to  the  rock  and  forti 
fy  ourselves?" 

Tonty  did  not  reply  for  some  time.  It  was  in 
deed  difficult  to  know  what  could  be  done  to 
make  themselves  safe  among  a  people  none  too 
friendly  towards  them.  At  last  he  said : 

"We  have  no  force  to  oppose  to  theirs,  there 
fore  we  must  trust  them  nor  ever  let  the  sav 
ages  believe  we  fear  them.  Are  you  man  enough 
to  play  your  part,  Raoul?" 

"I  will  do  my  best,"  he  replied. 

Tonty  made  as  plausible  an  explanation  as  he 
could  to  the  Illinois  of  the  actions  of  the  desert- 


156    WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

ers.  Soon  the  braves  who  had  been  absent  on  the 
spring  hunt  returned  to  the  village,  eight  thous 
and  of  them,  Raoul  counted.  The  spring  melted 
into  a  hot  summer,  and  now  the  cool  winds  of 
autumn  would  soon  be  blowing,  yet,  still  there 
was  no  news  from  La  Salle.  Tonty  and  his  five 
companions  had  no  lack  of  food  or  shelter;  the 
two  friars  had  endeavored  to  begin  their  mission 
ary  work,  but  they  had  not  yet  learned  to  speak 
the  Illinois'  tongue  sufficiently  well.  Yet  though 
the  days  passed  quietly  enough  and  the  attitude 
of  their  Indian  hosts  had  not  changed,  the 
Frenchmen  were  conscious  that  they  were  dis 
trusted,  that  the  chiefs  could  not  understand 
why  they  had  come  in  the  first  place  nor  why 
they  now  remained. 

This  quiet  life  soon  came  to  an  end.  Raoul 
and  Tonty  were  together  in  the  lodge  now  occu 
pied  by  all  of  the  Frenchmen  when  they  heard 
terrific  cries  outside.  Before  they  could  get  out 
to  find  the  cause,  the  lodge  flap  was  pulled  back 
and  there  streamed  in  as  many  Indians  as  the 
place  would  hold.  They  shrieked,  shook  their 
clubs  at  Tonty  and  cried  out  words  which  he 
could  not  altogether  understand,  but  of  which 
Raoul  called  out  the  meaning  to  him. 

"They  say  their  scouts  have  brought  word 
that  an  Iroquois  war  party  is  upon  them,  and 


TONTY  IN  DANGER  157 

they  hold  us  responsible  for  stirring  up  their 
ancient  foes." 

Tonty  did  not  need  to  have  explained  the  dan 
ger  of  his  position,  but  he  showed  no  sign  of  fear. 
"We  are  friends,  friends  of  the  Illinois,"  he  kept 
saying  calmly.  But  the  Illinois  were  only  partly 
convinced;  they  seized  the  precious  forge  and 
other  stores  which  the  deserters  had  not  carried 
off,  and  threw  them  into  the  river.  Then  know 
ing  that  Tonty  could  not  escape  and  that  there 
was  little  time  to  lose,  they  rushed  out  to  prepare 
for  the  Iroquois'  attack. 

"They  are  carrying  off  their  squaws  and  chil 
dren  to  an  island  down  the  stream,"  reported 
Raoul  standing  in  the  entrance  and  listening  to 
all  that  was  going  on.  "They  will  leave  some 
of  the  braves  to  defend  them.  They  think  that 
the  Iroquois  will  attack  to-morrow." 

That  night  Tonty  and  his  little  band  watched 
the  great  fires  that  had  been  lighted  along  the 
river  and  listened  to  the  din  of  rattles  and  cries 
of  the  excited  braves  as  they  danced  the  war 
dance.  One  of  the  boys,  Water  Rat,  who  was 
about  Raoul's  age  and  who  had  been  friendly 
with  him  in  many  ways,  hunting  and  trapping 
and  fishing,  came  by  to  display  proudly  his 
paint  and  the  new  war  club  he  had  been  allowed 
to  assume. 


158         WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

"We  shall  kill  you  to-morrow,"  he  announced 
cheerfully,  "if  we  find  that  in  truth  you  have 
leagued  with  our  enemies." 

"The  Illinois  are  cowards,"  mocked  Raoul  in 
return;  "perchance  there  will  be  none  of  you 
left  to  kill  us." 

In  the  morning  the  scouts  returned  to  say  that 
the  foe  was  encamped  in  the  forest  along  the 
Aramoni  river.  They  had  caught  sight  of  one  of 
them  clothed  in  French  garments,  and  they 
thought  it  was  La  Salle.  Once  more  they  rushed 
to  Tonty's  lodge  to  charge  him  with  the  treach 
ery  of  his  commander. 

"Your  scouts  have  weak  eyes,"  shouted  Ton- 
ty,  calm  in  demeanor  though  tomahawks  were 
brandished  over  his  head  and  might  descend  any 
moment.  "They  cannot  tell  a  Frenchman  from 
an  Iroquois.  Would  your  chiefs  have  proof  that 
we  are  your  friends  ?  Then  will  we  go  with  you 
and  fight  by  your  side." 

Once  again  Raoul  saw  the  intrepid  Italian's 
courage  and  resourcefulness  save  them.  Most 
of  the  Indians  seemed  pacified  and  the  others 
had  no  time  to  argue,  for  the  drums  told  them 
the  Iroquois  were  upon  them.  Tonty  and  the 
five  Frenchmen  followed  to  the  shore  and  saw 
the  Illinois'  war  canoes  filled  with  braves,  shriek 
ing  and  shooting  with  bows  and  guns,  headed 


TONTY  IN  DANGER  159 

for  the  other  shore,  where  on  the  plain  below 
the  enemy  was  massing. 

"The  odds  are  against  the  Illinois,"  exclaimed 
Tonty  to  de  Boisrondet.  "They  will  be  over 
come  shortly  and  all  of  us  will  perish  with  them 
unless  something  be  done."  He  pondered  a  mo 
ment,  then  he  turned  to  Raoul  and  said:  "Get 
me  a  string  of  wampum." 

Luckily  Raoul  knew  where  the  Illinois  kept 
the  precious  wampum  belts  and  he  knew  also 
which  ones  were  borne  by  peace  envoys.  He 
rushed  to  the  lodge  that  was  now  unguarded, 
picked  out  one  from  the  case  of  bearskin  and 
hurried  back. 

"Remain  here,"  commanded  Tonty.  "I  and 
the  Sieur  de  Boisrondet  will  do  that  which  our 
duty  demands,  desperate  chance  though  it  be." 

But  Raoul  disobeyed  and  followed  them  to 
the  other  shore.  Water  Rat's  older  brother,  who 
had  just  returned  from  bearing  a  message  to 
the  island  where  were  the  squaws,  was  jumping 
into  a  canoe.  Raoul  told  him  what  he  guessed 
of  Tonty's  intention,  and  the  young  brave  al 
lowed  him  to  cross  with  him.  Once  on  the  other 
side,  the  two  joined  Tonty  and  de  Boisrondet, 
and  there  was  no  time  to  find  fault  with  the  boy 
for  his  disobedience.  The  arrows  and  shot 
whistled  before  them. 


160          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

"Go  back  to  the  foot  of  the  hill,"  commanded 
Tonty,  and  the  three  this  time  did  as  they  were 
bid.  They  watched  Tonty  as  he  strode  forward 
alone,  weaponless,  holding  out  the  wampum. 

"They  breed  men  in  Italy!"  exclaimed  de 
Boisrondet  in  admiration  of  his  courage.  "No 
wonder  their  ancestors,  the  Romans,  conquered 
the  world." 

"But  see,"  cried  Raoul,  "they  have  surrounded 
him;  they  are  dancing  and  firing  and  shriek 
ing  so  that  I  cannot  tell  what  has  happened.  I 
will  climb  up  into  this  tree  so  that  I  can  see 
farther." 

A  minute  later  he  called  down:  "A  brave  has 
jabbed  Tonty's  side  with  a  knife  .  .  .  Will  he 
fall?  .  .  .  No,  he  puts  his  hand  to  the  wound, 
but  he  is  talking.  The  Iroquois  point  to  his  ears, 
and  I  think  they  mean  he  must  be  a  Frenchman 
because  they  are  not  pierced  for  rings.  No  won 
der  they  first  believed  him  to  be  an  Illinois.  In 
these  Indian  garments  we  all  look  like  them,  ex 
cept  for  the  absence  of  paint." 

"It  is  quieter  now,"  said  de  Boisrondet  as  a  lull 
in  the  fighting  followed.  "Can  you  hear  what 
Tonty  is  saying?" 

"Yes!"  replied  Raoul.  "He  shouts  out, 
though  the  blood  is  flowing  from  his  mouth, 
that  the  Illinois  are  now  the  children  of  the  King 


TONTY  IN  DANGER  161 

of  France,  even  as  are  the  Iroquois,  and  that 
Onontio — you  know  so  they  call  the  Governor 
— will  be  very  angry  if  they  fight  each  other." 

"The  saints  have  mercy  and  protect  us!"  de 
Boisrondet  cried,  "an  Iroquois  is  waving  Ton- 
ty's  hat  in  the  air.  The  Illinois  will  think  he  is 
killed  and  that  the  combat  cannot  be  stopped." 

And  so  in  truth  it  happened.  The  fighting  be 
gan,  more  fiercely  than  before,  and  the  Iroquois, 
instead  of  listening  to  Tonty,  threatened  to  kill 
him.  Raoul  saw  with  horror  that  one  of  them 
had  hold  of  Tonty 's  scalp  lock  and  was  brand 
ishing  the  knife  around.  He  could  hear 
Tonty's  firm  words  even  while  death  was  so  near, 
saying  that  the  Illinois  had  twelve  hundred  war 
riors  and  that  sixty  Frenchmen  were  waiting  in 
the  village  to  join  him  if  need  be.  Finally, 
however,  these  words  and  the  advice  of  one  of 
the  chiefs  who  had  long  been  friends  with  La 
Salle,  influenced  them.  They  agreed  that  Ton 
ty  should  go  back  to  the  Illinois  as  peace-maker. 

"He  has  succeeded!"  exclaimed  Raoul,  tum 
bling  down  from  the  tree  and  running  to  meet 
him  as  he  returned,  bleeding  but  triumphant. 

But,  alas,  the  peace  was  not  to  endure;  the 
Iroquois  were  prepared  to  break  the  treaty  as 
soon  as  they  found  a  favorable  opportunity,  and 
Tonty,  who  refused  to  be  fooled  by  their  soft 


162          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

words  and  their  gifts,  asked  them  the  direct 
question — when  they  meant  to  go  and  leave  the 
Illinois  alone.  The  Iroquois  chiefs  grew  angry, 
and  Tonty  departed  from  the  council  lodge.  He 
realized  that  he  had  done  all  any  man  could  do 
in  his  endeavors  to  make  friendly  neighbors  of 
ancient  foes,  so  he  slipped  away  at  night  with 
Raoul,  Membre,  Boisrondet  and  two  others,  and 
paddled  rapidly  up  the  river. 

The  Illinois,  believing  the  Iroquois  intended 
to  turn  over  a  new  leaf,  had  unwisely  separated 
into  their  different  tribes.  The  Iroquois,  taking 
advantage  of  this,  attacked  one  of  them — the 
Tamaroas — and  a  fearful  massacre  of  the  wom 
en  and  children  took  place,  the  horrible  proofs 
of  which  La  Salle  was  to  come  across  later  on. 


CHAPTER  XI 

HUNTING  AND  TRAPPING 

IT  was  good,  thought  Raoul  about  six  weeks 
later,  as  he  sat  before  the  fire  of  his  lodge 
scraping  a  pelt,  to  be  among  friends  once  again, 
to  have  one's  stomach  filled  and  one's  scalp  tight 
on  one's  head.  The  Pottawattamies  were  friends 
of  La  Salle,  and  Raoul  liked  to  listen  when  the 
old  chief  talked  of  the  Frenchman  and  said  that 
he  knew  only  three  great  captains  in  the  world: 
Frontenac,  La  Salle  and  himself.  Now  that  he 
was  in  safety,  he  shuddered  at  the  memory  of 
all  he  had  gone  through  since  the  day  Tonty, 
carrying  the  wampum,  had  tried  to  make  peace 
between  the  Illinois  and  the  Iroquois.  While 
he  was  passing  from  one  danger  to  another,  en 
during  hardship  after  hardship,  he  had  been 
either  too  excited  or  too  numbed  with  fatigue, 
cold  and  hunger  to  look  back  to  the  woes  of  yes- 

163 


164         WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

terday  or  forward  to  the  strain  of  to-morrow. 

Now,  with  the  heat  of  a  blazing  fire  envelop 
ing  him,  he  shivered,  thinking  of  the  thirty-five 
days  of  bitter  cold  during  which  they  had  trav 
eled  northward  on  land  or  over  the  frozen  sur 
face  of  Lake  Michigan,  until  they  reached  the 
hospitable  Pottawattamies  at  Green  Bay,  who 
welcomed  and  sheltered  the  forlorn  five:  Tonty, 
de  Boisrondet,  Father  Membre,  Renault  and 
himself;  for  Father  Ribourde  had  strolled  away 
from  them  one  day  and  had  been  scalped  by  a 
wandering  band  of  Indians.  Father  Hennepin 
had  left  them  some  time  before  to  explore  the 
Illinois  and  had  had  many  strange  adventures 
which  cannot  be  related  here.  He  recalled  their 
slipping  away  from  the  village  of  the  Illinois, 
when  the  treaty  Tonty  had  succeeded  in  making 
between  the  Illinois  and  the  Iroquois  came  to  a 
sudden  end,  and  the  Frenchmen  found  them 
selves  suspected  by  both  tribes;  the  time  when 
de  Boisrondet  was  lost  for  several  days;  their 
long  tramp  along  the  borders  of  the  bay,  and 
finally,  when  Tonty  was  ill  and  all  of  them  starv 
ing,  their  arrival  at  their  quiet  winter  haven. 

Now  that  their  own  troubles  were  over  they 
had  time  to  worry  about  La  Salle  and  to  won 
der  why  they  had  not  heard  something  about  his 
movements.  Raoul's  anxiety  was  even  greater 


HUNTING  AND  TRAPPING  165 

than  that  of  the  others,  for  he  suffered  con 
tinually  at  the  thought  that  La  Salle  believed 
him  to  be  a  deserter. 

He  brooded  over  this  in  spite  of  Tonty's  ad 
vice,  but  at  last  he  hit  upon  an  activity  which 
would  help  him  pass  the  time  and  which  con 
soled  him  with  the  knowledge  that  he  was  do 
ing  something  for  the  man  he  so  respected.  He 
knew  that  the  great  expedition  could  not  suc 
ceed  without  money,  and  that  La  Salle  had 
spent  all  he  owned  and  had  mortgaged  his  prop 
erty  and  had  borrowed  from  friends  and  re 
lations.  He  knew  too  that  the  great  source  of 
revenue  in  New  France  was  furs,  necessary  cov 
erings  for  men  against  the  rigors  of  the  Cana 
dian  winters  and  a  rich  ornamentation  for  the 
belles  at  the  Court  of  King  Louis.  He  had 
seen  the  great  stone  storehouses  at  Fort  Fron- 
tenac  and  at  Ville  Marie  piled  to  the  top  of 
their  dark  interiors  with  evil-smelling,  precious 
pelts. 

He  had  heard  men  tell  that  the  regulation  of 
the  traffic  in  furs  troubled  the  governor  and 
even  the  royal  ministers  across  the  sea;  that  some 
of  the  men  and  some  of  the  religious  houses  were 
allowed  to  trade  in  them  with  the  Indians,  and 
that  others  were  shut  off  from  this  manner  of 
making  a  fortune.  He  had  listened  to  the  cour- 


166          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

eurs  de  bois  when  they  boasted  of  the  way  they 
had  outwitted  those  in  authority  by  disposing  at 
good  figures  of  the  skins  won  by  their  own  guns 
and  traps.  He  knew  that  some  of  the  bloody 
warfare  between  the  different  Indian  tribes  was 
caused  by  the  refusal  of  certain  tribes  to  allow 
others  to  hunt  or  to  trade  in  what  they  considered 
their  own  territories.  So  skins  were  to  him,  as  to 
all  in  New  France,  a  kind  of  currency ;  and  he  de 
termined  that  while  waiting  for  La  Salle  he 
would  get  together  as  much  of  these  riches  as 
possible. 

One  of  the  Pottawattamie  hunters,  Black 
Duck,  was  starting  out  one  afternoon  to  set  his 
traps.  Raoul  watched  him  with  interest  as  he 
entered  the  forest.  Then,  urged  by  a  sudden  im 
pulse,  he  ran  after  him. 

"Let  me  go  with  you,"  he  begged. 

Black  Duck  nodded  and  seemed  pleased  to 
have  the  company  of  the  French  lad.  They 
talked  as  they  went,  arid  Raoul  enquired  if  there 
was  a  great  number  of  animals  to  be  caught  near 
the  village. 

"There  are  enough  for  all  our  own  bodies  and 
coverings  for  our  lodges,"  the  Indian  replied. 
"If  Black  Duck  wants  more,  skins  for  barter, 
skins  to  pile  up,  many  skins  like  snowflakes,  he 
knows  a  place." 


HUNTING  AND  TRAPPING  167 

"Where?"  asked  Raoul. 

"Black  Duck  knows,  but  Black  Duck  won't 
tell,"  was  all  the  answer  he  got.  But  presently 
the  Pottawattomie,  kneeling  down  on  the  snow 
in  front  of  a  trap  he  was  baiting  for  a  fox, 
looked  over  his  shoulder,  his  small,  good-natured 
eyes  half  closed,  and  asked:  "Would  white  boy 
like  to  go  there  with  Black  Duck?" 

Raoul  did  not  waste  time  in  settling  this  mat 
ter.  On  their  return  to  the  village  he  asked  Ton- 
ty  for  permission  to  accompany  Black  Duck  on 
a  fortnight's  hunting  trip.  Tonty  consulted  the 
chief,  of  whose  friendship  he  could  not  doubt. 

"It  is  good,"  he  replied,  "let  him  go.  Black 
Duck  is  my  brother's  son.  He  is  good.  The 
boy  is  old  enough  to  kill  deer  for  his  own  leg 
gings." 

So  Raoul,  clad  now  as  warmly  as  his  com 
panion  and  carrying  bow,  arrows,  a  hatchet  and 
a  knife,  set  off  delightedly.  Black  Duck,  a 
man  of  about  fifty,  was  as  quick  and  active  as 
Raoul,  and  of  much  greater  endurance.  He 
showed  Raoul  how  to  manufacture  the  traps  he 
used,  some  small  ones  for  rabbits  and  squirrels, 
and  larger  ones  for  foxes,  mink,  beaver  and  ot 
ter.  They  traveled  fifteen  to  twenty  miles  a 
day,  Raoul  judged;  and  though  to  him  there 
was  no  sign  of  a  trail,  the  Indian  rarely  hesi- 


168          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

tated.  Sometimes  he  shot  a  deer,  sometimes 
smaller  beasts,  an  opossum,  or  perhaps  a  duck 
or  a  wood  pigeon.  An  hour  or  more  before  sun 
set  they  would  stop  and  quickly  picking  out  the 
best  spot,  Black  Duck  would  bait  his  traps. 
Then  followed  supper,  a  nodding  over  the  huge 
fire  and  then  sleep  under  the  stars  until  dawn. 
The  traps  were  then  visited  and  emptied;  never 
was  one  found  empty,  except  once  or  twice  when 
its  occupant  had  succeeded  in  springing  it. 

"A  bear!"  sniffed  Black  Duck  one  morning 
as  he  pointed  to  the  broken  trap  and  some  foot 
prints  in  the  snow. 

Each  day  farther  from  the  village  the  evi 
dences  of  game  increased.  Everywhere  were 
little  tracks  crisscrossing  the  white  surface,  and 
here  and  there  bits  of  furs  and  spots  of  red 
showed  where  some  hungry  animal  had  made  a 
meal  off  a  small  victim.  All  along  the  trail 
Black  Duck  made  caches  for  what  his  traps  and 
bow  had  brought  him;  sometimes  he  skinned 
the  beasts  when  they  had  need  of  food  and  bur 
ied  the  pelts.  Raoul  had  grown  quite  expert  in 
helping,  and  now  made  and  set  his  own  traps 
and  cached  his  booty.  He  had  not  been  as  suc 
cessful  with  his  bow;  often  he  missed  what  he 
aimed  at,  and  Black  Duck  would  laugh  with 
amusement. 


HUNTING  AND  TRAPPING  169 

"Hold  it  so,"  he  then  explained,  "not  let  it 
quiver.  Wait  till  arm  is  firm  as  rock  before  you 
pull  cord." 

And  when  Raoul  did  bring  down  a  pigeon  and 
at  last  a  deer  the  Indian's  kindly  face  shone  with 
satisfaction. 

"Will  be  great  hunter  some  day,"  he  prom 
ised. 

In  six  days,  after  traveling  nearly  eighty 
miles,  according  to  Raoul's  calculation,  they 
reached  their  destination. 

"The  beasts  come  here  to  get  warm,"  ex 
plained  Black  Duck,  pointing  to  a  large  dark 
pool  that  yawned  through  all  the  white  of  the 
landscape.  Behind  them  was  the  forest  through 
which  they  had  come,  and  sloping  down  from  it 
to  a  small  frozen  river  below,  was  an  almost 
open  field.  Just  where  it  joined  the  forest  was 
the  pool. 

"Put  your  hand  in,"  commanded  Black 
Duck,  and  when  Raoul  knelt  down  and  did  so  he 
jumped  back  in  astonishment,  for  the  water  was 
warm. 

"Spirits  of  animals  dead  make  pool  warm  for 
their  brothers  so  they  won't  die  in  winter,"  was 
the  Indian's  explanation. 

All  about  were  tracks  large  and  small.  Raoul, 
who  could  now  distinguish  the  prints  of  the  ani- 


170          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

mals  from  one  another,  noticed  those  of  a  bear 
cub.  Black  Duck  went  off  into  the  forest  to  cut 
wood  for  the  many  additional  traps  they  would 
need,  and  Raoul,  concealing  himself  behind  a 
rock  between  the  crevices  of  which  he  could  see 
the  pool,  waited.  The  wind  was  blowing  from 
the  river  towards  him,  so  he  knew  that  any  crea 
tures  coming  from  that  direction  could  not  scent 
him.  Soon  he  heard  the  crying  of  some  small 
animal,  and  after  looking  around,  discovered  a 
dark  object  on  the  edge  of  the  forest.  It  was  a 
bear  cub  which  seemed  to  have  cut  his  foot  on  a 
jagged  branch  of  a  tree  that  had  been  shivered 
and  broken  by  a  summer  thunderbolt. 

Raoul  watched  to  see  what  would  happen.  He 
half  hoped  and  half  feared  that  the  mother  bear 
would  hear  the  crying  and  come  to  the  aid  of  her 
young.  Soon  he  caught  sight  of  her  lumbering 
up  from  the  river,  where  she  had  broken  the 
thin  ice  along  the  edge  and  pulled  out  a  fish.  He 
felt  for  his  bow,  but  something  withheld  him 
from  shooting;  he  didn't  know  whether  it  was 
fear  or  pity  for  the  cub.  The  old  bear  soon 
reached  it  and  began  licking  the  wounded  paw. 
Then  she  gave  the  cub  a  gentle  blow  with  her 
own  huge  brown  leathery  paw  and  started  it  to 
wards  the  pond.  She  guided  it  to  the  edge  and 
make  it  dip  the  wounded  member  into  the  warm 


HUNTING  AND  TRAPPING  171 

water,  and  the  cub  seemed  to  appreciate  the 
comfort  it  gave. 

Raoul  was  so  amused  at  watching  this  scene 
that  he  forgot  all  caution  and  came  out  in  front 
of  the  rock  to  see  better.  The  mother  bear  sud 
denly  lifted  her  head,  sniffed  the  air,  then  turned 
and  started  for  him  before  he  could  realize  that 
he  was  even  in  danger.  His  first  thought  was 
for  his  bow,  but  when  he  started  back  for  it  he 
tripped  on  a  frozen  ridge  of  the  rock.  His  heart 
sank  as  he  heard  the  bear  behind  him,  near 
enough  for  her  panting  to  be  distinctly  audible. 
He  jumped  to  his  feet  but  knew  that  there  was 
no  hope  of  outrunning  the  creature,  awkward  as 
it  seemed  to  be.  He  prayed  that  Black  Duck 
would  appear  and  cried  out  on  the  chance  that 
his  call  might  reach  him.  But  there  was  no 
time — the  great  brown  beast  was  now  not  more 
than  ten  feet  away.  He  pulled  out  his  knife; 
at  least  he  could  try  to  defend  his  life.  The 
bear  reared;  it  seemed  as  if  a  dark  mountain 
were  about  to  descend  upon  him.  He  thrust  out 
the  knife,  blindly  ...  it  struck  something,  and 
something  tore  his  shoulder,  and  then  all  was 
darkness.  .  .  . 

When  he  regained  consciousness  he  heard 
Black  Duck  saying:  "He  has  slain  a  bear!  A 
bear  which  would  do  honor  to  a  great  chief!" 


172          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

Raoul  got  painfully  to  his  feet,  and  there  in 
the  reddened  snow  beside  him,  lay  the  beast.  The 
Indian  felt  of  RaouFs  shoulder,  and  with  a  ges 
ture  not  unlike  that  of  the  mother  bear  with  her 
cub,  shoved  him  to  the  pond,  and  pulling  up  the 
deerskin  shirt,  made  him  stoop  down  while  he 
bathed  his  lacerated  skin  in  the  warm  water. 

Later,  when  stiff  but  proud,  Raoul  was  eating 
some  of  the  bear's  meat,  Black  Duck  laid  on  his 
knees  a  perfect  skin  of  a  white  fox. 

"Never  has  Black  Duck  seen  a  finer,"  he  said 
smoothing  it  out.  "It  is  fit  for  the  little  white 
maiden,  who  will  make  herself  a  cap  and  mocca 
sins  of  it.  Ever  since  she  said  kind  words  to  me 
last  summer  and  made  the  Pottawattamie  hunter 
welcome  in  the  lodge  of  the  Senecas,  I  have 
looked  for  a  fitting  gift  to  bring  her.  She  too 
was  once  French,  she  told  old  Black  Duck 
when  she  laughed  with  him." 

"A  French  maiden  in  the  lodge  of  the  Sen 
ecas!"  cried  Raoul,  forgetting  the  pain  of  his 
wound  and  the  pride  of  his  exploit  in  this  news, 
"tell  me — where  is  she?" 

So  Black  Duck  told  how  the  summer  before, 
when  he  had  wandered  with  his  pelts  to  dispose 
of  them  to  the  Miamis,  who  in  turn  would  bar 
ter  them  to  voyageurs,  he  had  come  across  a  vil 
lage  of  the  Iroquois,  of  the  Seneca  tribe.  At 


HUNTING  AND  TRAPPING  173 

first  he  had  been  afraid  to  advance,  but  a  little 
girl  had  run  out  and  had  led  him  by  the  hand  to 
the  lodge  of  the  chief,  Old  Wolf,  who  for  the 
child's  sake  had  received  him  in  a  friendly  fash 
ion. 

"What  were  they  doing  there  so  far  from 
their  own  lands?"  Raoul  questioned  eagerly, 
"and  are  they  there  now?" 

"Black  Duck  knew  not  why  they  came  and  he 
knows  not  where  they  journeyed.  All  he  knows 
is  that  some  day  he  will  see  the  little  maiden 
again  and  that  he  will  give  her  this  fox  skin." 

Raoul  was  long  silent.  He  was  too  familiar 
with  the  habits  of  the  Indians  to  believe  that, 
even  though  Black  Duck  might  lead  him  to  the 
exact  spot,  he  would  find  the  Senecas  still  there. 
He  could  not  set  off  to  hunt  for  them,  for  then 
should  La  Salle  return  and  find  him  gone,  he 
would  indeed  be  justified  in  calling  him  a  de% 
serter.  The  knowledge  that  Denise  was  alive 
and  evidently  well  cared  for  was  at  least  a  great 
relief. 

"Black  Duck,"  he  begged,  "listen  to  what  I 
say  and  swear  by  your  medicine  that  you  will 
serve  me,  even  as  I  would  serve  you,  now  that 
we  are  friends." 

The  Indian  looked  up  and  a  smile  softened  the 
lines  of  his  mouth  which  was  often  stern.  "I 


174          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

am  your  friend,"  he  said,  "and  what  is  mine, 
meat,  bow,  cunning,  strength,  endurance,  is 
yours." 

"Did  you  ever  hear  the  Senecas  speak  of 
White  Thrush,"  asked  Raoul,  smiling  his 
thanks.  "Of  a  French  boy  captive?" 

"Yes,"  replied  Black  Duck,  his  eyes  sudden 
ly  lighting  with  understanding.  "And  you  are 
White  Thrush?" 

So  Raoul  told  him  his  story,  of  his  capture 
and  of  his  escape,  of  his  search  for  Denise  and 
of  his  failure  to  get  news  of  her. 

"What  I  ask  of  you,"  he  continued,  "is  that 
you  will  try  to  find  her  for  me,  then  tell  her  of 
me,  where  I  go  and  how  I  will  come  for  her  on 
my  return  from  the  great  expedition.  If  it  be 
possible,  send  word  of  her  to  meet  me  some 
where." 

"Black  Duck  is  a  good  hunter,"  the  Indian 
answered  proudly,  "and  he  will  follow  the  trail 
of  the  Senecas  for  White  Thrush." 

For  nearly  a  week  the  two  shot  and  snared 
game  and  packed  the  pelts  until  their  loads  were 
almost  as  heavy  as  they  could  carry.  Then 
they  started  back  on  their  way  to  the  lake,  stop 
ping  to  gather  all  the  skins  they  had  cached  at 
different  spots.  Raoul  would  have  been  sorry 
to  end  this  life  in  the  woods,  which  suited  him 


HUNTING  AND  TRAPPING  175 

better  each  day,  but  he  hoped  that  on  his  return 
he  might  find  that  La  Salle  had  arrived  or  that 
there  was  news  of  him. 

All  the  mission  was  astounded  at  the  results 
of  his  hunting,  but  he  was  disappointed — there 
was  no  news  yet  of  the  Seigneur.  Weeks  went 
by  and  RaouFs  store  of  pelts  increased  to  double 
its  size;  spring  came  and  Tonty  determined  to 
go  to  Fort  Michillimackinac,  believing  it  would 
be  at  that  point  where  La  Salle  would  ultimately 
search  for  them. 

So  the  little  party  bade  farewell  to  the  Potta- 
wattamies  who  had  been  so  good  to  them,  Black 
Duck  alone  accompanying  them  part  of  the  way, 
as  he  was  bound  westward  to  dispose  of  his 
skins. 

It  was  nearly  June  when  an  Indian  canoe 
brought  word  that  La  Salle  was  only  a  day's 
journey  behind  him.  Raoul  thought  he  should 
never  live  through  the  day,  and  as  soon  as  dawn 
broke  he  went  to  the  shore  of  the  lake  to  watch. 
At  last  far  in  the  distance  he  caught  sight  of 
the  canoes,  and  he  called  loudly  to  Tonty  and 
Friar  Membre.  When  La  Salle  stepped  ashore 
tears  were  in  the  eyes  of  all,  and  he  embraced 
Tonty  and  the  friar,  kissing  first  one  cheek  and 
then  the  other,  again  and  again. 


176          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

"I  had  not  thought  ever  to  behold  you  alive," 
he  cried. 

Then  he  caught  sight  of  Raoul  whom  emotion 
and  shyness  had  kept  in  the  background. 

"Raoul!"  he  cried  in  great  surprise,  "and  have 
I  indeed  done  you  wrong  in  my  heart  all  these 
many  months?" 

When  the  first  excitement  was  over  he  sat 
down  in  a  room  of  the  fort  and  sent  for  the  boy. 
He  closed  the  door  and  walked  up  and  down. 
"Tell  me,  lad,  about  it  all,"  he  said,  in  a  voice 
that  was  gentler  than  Raoul  had  ever  heard  it. 

And  Raoul  related  it  all,  told  in  actual  words 
what  he  had  told  in  his  thoughts  a  thousand 
times — everything  that  had  happened.  He  ended 
by  blurting  out:  "You  did  not  believe  it  was 
I  who  poisoned  you,  Seigneur?" 

"Never,  lad!"  the  man  exclaimed.  "Never. 
I  beseech  your  pardon  for  the  hard  thoughts  I 
had  when  I  believed  you  had  deserted  me.  It 
was  not  that  I  had  the  right  to  blame  you  if  you 
had  feared  to  follow  my  fortunes,  but  I  was  bit 
ter  because  I  found  out  how  dear  you  were  to 
me  and  because  I  believed  I  had  lost  you.  I 
have  no  son,  Raoul,  and  I  shall  never  have  home, 
wife  and  son.  But  God  has  sent  you  to  take 
the  place  of  one,  if  you  will." 

Raoul  was  not  ashamed  that  his  tears  fell  on 


HUNTING  AND  TRAPPING  177 

the  Seigneur's  hand  as  he  kissed  it.  After  they 
had  been  silent,  and  after  they  had  talked — both 
silence  and  talk  equally  a  pledge  of  the  new 
bond  between  them — Raoul  proudly  took  La 
Salle  out  to  see  the  skins  he  had  gathered  to 
gether  for  him. 


CHAPTER  XII 

SWIFT  FOX 

IT  was  a  balmy  evening  when  La  Salle,  seated 
on  a  grassy  slope  at  Michillimackinac  over 
looking  the  lake,  recalled  for  Tonty,  de  Bois- 
rondet,  and  Raoul  all  that  had  happened  to  him 
since  he  had  left  them  in  the  village  of  the  Illi 
nois. 

Your  great  poet,  Dante,  Tonty,"  he  said,  put 
ting  his  hand  on  the  head  of  the  boy  who  lay  at 
his  feet,  "has  declared  that  there  is  no  greater 
sorrow  than  recalling  happy  days  when  one  looks 
back  on  them  through  present  despair.  It  seems 
to  me  he  might  also  have  said  that  there  is  no 
greater  happiness  than  looking  back  when  happy 
upon  past  troubles.  You  remember,  friends, 
when  I  set  off  how  urgent  was  our  need  to  re 
place  the  supplies  lost  in  the  Griffin.  So  though 
the  thaws  of  approaching  spring  greatly  in 
creased  the  difficulty  of  the  way,  interrupted  as 
it  was  everywhere  by  marshes  and  rivers,  to 

178 


SWIFT  FOX  179 

say  nothing  of  the  length  of  the  journey,  which 
is  about  five  hundred  leagues  in  a  direct  line, 
and  the  danger  of  meeting  Indians  of  four  or 
five  different  nations,  through  whose  country 
we  were  to  pass,  as  well  as  an  Iroquois  army, 
which  we  knew  was  coming  that  way ;  though  we 
must  suffer  all  the  time  from  hunger;  sleep  on 
the  open  ground,  and  often  without  food ;  watch 
by  night  and  march  by  day,  loaded  with  baggage, 
such  as  blanket,  clothing,  kettle,  hatchet,  gun, 
powder,  lead,  and  skins  to  make  moccasins; 
sometimes  pushing  through  thickets,  sometimes 
climbing  rocks  covered  with  ice  and  snow,  some 
times  wading  whole  days  through  marshes  where 
the  water  was  waist-deep  or  even  more,  at  a 
season  when  the  snow  was  not  entirely  melted — 
though  I  knew  all  this,  it  did  not  prevent  me 
from  resolving  to  go  on  foot  to  Fort  Frontenac, 
to  learn  for  myself  what  had  become  of  my  ves 
sel,  and  bring  back  the  things  we  needed."* 

"Yet  you  did  not  succeed  in  learning  what  had 
in  truth  befallen  the  vessel?"  asked  de  Boisron- 
det. 

"Nay,  I  saw  it  not  attested  by  a  notary,  but  I 
am  certain  the  good  craft  was  scuttled  by  the 
same  men  who  helped  build  her,  traitorous  de- 

*  These  words  are  taken  from  one  of  La  Salle's  own  letters. 


180          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

serters  that  they  were,"  exclaimed  La  Salle,  and 
continued:  "We  traveled  on  snowshoes,  by 
sledges  or  canoes  according  to  the  state  of  the 
ground,  but  it  was  always  hard  going.  At  one 
time  a  body  of  Indians  came  upon  our  trail, 
though  it  was  in  a  land  where  few  Indians  go, 
as  it  is  claimed  by  no  nation  and  each  fears  the 
other  there.  They  believed  us  to  be  Iroquois, 
so  we  drew  Iroquois  drawings  and  signs  on  the 
rind  of  trees  from  which  we  stripped  the  bark, 
and  we  burned  the  grass  to  cover  our  tracks. 
But  it  would  be  wearisome  for  you  to  listen  to 
all  our  hardships  and  for  me  to  recount  the  days 
of  travel  and  of  sickness.  At  length,  after  six 
ty-five  days,  I  saw  before  me  the  walls  of  Fort 
Frontenac  and  that  night  slept,  not  more 
soundly,  but  more  comfortably,  on  mine  own 
bed."  * 

4 'Did  you  rest  there  long?"  questioned  Tonty, 
"after  the  most  arduous  journey  surely  ever  un 
dertaken  by  a  white  man  in  this  new  country?" 

"I  found  no  good  news  there  to  bid  me  be  a 
laggard,"  answered  La  Salle;  "my  creditors  had 
sought  to  strip  me  bare,  and  I  hastened  perforce 
to  Ville  Marie  to  procure  the  supplies  we  needed. 
Men  said  I  could  not  get  them,  that  no  one  would 
advance  more  money  to  me ;  yet  I  managed,  and 
was  back  within  seven  days  at  Fort  Frontenac. 


SWIFT  FOX  181 

How  could  I  rest,  knowing  that  you  waited  for 
me?" 

Perhaps  never  before  in  his  life  had  La  Salle 
felt  himself  so  understood  as  now  by  his  three 
sympathetic  listeners.  He  was  warmed  by  their 
interest  as  they  were  warmed  by  the  late  spring 
sunshine.  "Then,"  he  continued,  "as  I  was 
about  to  start  came  your  letter,  Tonty,  telling 
me  of  the  desertion  of  my  men  at  Fort  Creve- 
coeur — rightly  was  it  named!  This  was  not  all 
— two  faithful  habitants  hurried  to  tell  me  that 
these  same  deserters,  joined  by  others,  had  stolen 
the  furs  which  I  had  left  stored  here  at  Michilli- 
mackinac,  destroyed  the  fort  on  the  St.  Joseph 
river,  and  that,  after  separating,  some  to  take 
their  booty  to  the  Dutch  at  Albany,  the  others 
were  on  their  way  to  kill  me." 

"What  did,  you  do?"  asked  Raoul,  bending 
his  head  back  that  he  might  look  into  La  Salle's 
face. 

"I  went  to  meet  them,"  was  the  answer.  "I 
waited  with  trusty  men  at  a  bend  in  the  bay, 
and  when  they  turned  it,  my  guns,  pointed  at 
them,  bade  them  surrender.  Two  only  were 
killed,  the  others  I  brought  back  as  prisoners  to 
Fort  Frontenac." 

"And  then,"  queried  de  Boisrondet,  "then 
surely  you  had  time  to  rest  and  to  sleep  and  to 


182          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

eat  good  food  cooked  by  French  hands  and  to 
look  at  white  faces  and  not  always  on  those  of 
the  redskins?" 

"How  could  I  rest,  man,"  asked  La  Salle  al 
most  angrily,  "when  I  thought  of  you  waiting  for 
me  in  the  midst  of  the  savages  ?  Small  was  your 
force,  I  knew.  Had  I  known  what  had  hap 
pened  to  you,  how  you  were  reduced,  my  heart 
would  have  been  sadder  still;  but  even  then  I 
could  have  made  no  greater  speed.  Twenty-five 
men  and  a  great  quantity  of  stores  went  with 
me  when,  early  in  August,  I  started  westward 
again.  There  is  no  need  to  tell  of  the  journey. 
We  passed  by  here,  and  when  I  found  no  news 
of  you,  Tonty,  I  thought  you  must  be  still  where 
I  had  parted  from  you.  Yet  I  feared,  for  there 
were  rumors  that  the  Iroquois  meant  to  attack 
the  Illinois." 

"They  did,"  assented  Kaoul  grimly,  talking 
to  himself. 

"I  pushed  ahead  with  half  my  men,"  contin 
ued  La  Salle,  "down  to  the  river  of  the  Illinois, 
and  there  on  the  plains  I  beheld  such  a  sight  as 
I  believe  no  white  man  ever  saw  before.  Every 
where,  like  sheep  in  a  meadow  at  home,  were 
buffaloes — such  masses  of  them  that  I  almost 
thought  we  must  have  died  and  come  to  the  In- 


SWIFT  FOX  183 

dians'  'happy  hunting  ground.'  You  should 
have  seen  them,  Raoul;  such  great  beasts,  the 
big  shaggy  bulls,  the  cows  and  the  clumsy 
calves.  They  paid  no  attention  to  us  but  we 
could  not  pass  by  such  a  feast.  We  shot  at  them 
for  three  whole  days,  and  the  bulls  now  grew 
savage  and  made  the  hunt  dangerous.  Twelve 
of  them  we  killed,  beside  other  game,  and  I 
thought  how  glad  Tonty  and  all  of  them  will  be 
of  this  fresh  meat." 

He  stopped  and  the  memory  of  the  disappoint 
ment  and  the  anxiety  which  had  met  him  where 
he  had  hoped  to  feast  with  his  friend  over 
whelmed  him  once  more.  Then  he  went  on: 

"When  there  was  no  sign  of  you  or  sign  of 
any  gun  or  fortification  on  the  Rock  of  St. 
Louis,  I  knew  that  something  terrible  had  be 
fallen.  When  we  came  to  the  village  of  the 
Illinois  where  we  had  left  you,  there  was  naught 
but  silence  and  blackened  grass.  Then  when  we 
landed,  dreading  to  find  trace  of  you,  horror 
awaited  us — wolves  and  buzzards  alone  were 
alive  in  a  field  of  human  bones.  The  Iroquois 
had  torn  open  the  graves  of  their  foes,  and  never 
have  my  eyes  seen  such  things  as  they  then 
looked  on.  Yet  I  forced  myself  to  examine  the 
skulls,  wondering  each  step  whether  the  hair 
would  tell  me  some  awful  story  of  my  friends." 


184          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

Unconscious  of  what  he  was  doing,  he  leaned 
over  and  stroked  RaouTs  sunburned  locks  affec 
tionately,  as  if  to  reassure  himself. 

"Once  again  I  split  up  my  force  and  with  four 
men  continued  down  the  river  in  search  of  you. 
At  Fort  Crevecoeur  I  found  our  helpless  un- 
launched  vessel  and  on  its  planks  scrawled  the 
words,  'we  are  all  savages'." 

"Aye,  that  were  they!"  exclaimed  Tonty; 
"that  was  the  insolent  message  they  left  when 
they  deserted  us." 

"Still  we  went  on,"  said  La  Salle,  "and  I  saw 
everywhere  signs  of  Iroquois  deviltry.  I  will 
not  keep  the  lad  awake  with  horrors  by  telling 
you  all  I  beheld,  of  men  and  women  half  charred, 
still  bound  to  the  stakes  where  they  had  been  tor 
tured.  We  followed  the  river  until  we  came  to 
where  it  joined  the  great  river  of  my  dreams, 
of  which  I  have  spoken  so  often,  and  I  could 
see  the  yellow  glow  of  the  Mississippi  which, 
please  God,  we  shall  soon  explore  together.  On 
our  way  back  we  saw  a  comet  in  the  heavens, 
and  I  wondered  if  you  too  were  looking  at  it 
as  free  men  or  in  captivity.  I  picked  up  the 
men  I  had  left  near  the  burned  village,  and  we 
continued  northward,  looking  eagerly  for  the 
first  clue  of  you.  And  what  do  you  think  it 
was?  A  piece  of  wood  we  found  cut  by  a  saw; 


SWIFT  FOX  185 

so  we  praised  the  saints,  knowing  that  you  had 
escaped  alive."  La  Salle  bowed  his  head  for 
a  moment  and  then  continued:  "Back  through 
terrible  cold  and  storms  we  went,  and  at 
last  reached  the  rest  of  my  men  at  Fort 
Miami,  but  they  shook  their  heads  sadly  when 
I  asked  for  news  of  you.  And  in  sadness  and 
bitter  anxiety  there  I  remained  the  long  win 
ter." 

"And  when  spring  came  what  did  you  do?" 
asked  Tonty  after  he  had  once  again  related  the 
story  of  their  own  wanderings  and  disappoint 
ments. 

"I  knew  that  I  must  make  new  friends  and 
new  allies  among  the  Indians,"  explained  La 
Salle.  "I  must  band  the  various  tribes  together 
to  stand  firmly  against  the  Iroquois.  They 
would  then  protect  one  another,  Abenakis,  Mo- 
hegans,  who  had  come  from  their  far  New  Eng 
land  home,  Shawanoes,  Outagamis,  Miamis  and 
the  Illinois  who  were  returning  slowly  to  their 
old  home.  I  succeeded,  going  among  them  with 
wampum  and  with  solemn  words.  They  prom 
ised  to  forget  their  differences  and  to  be  my 
friends.  I  was  blind  from  the  snow  for  three 
days,  but  they  boiled  pine  needles  and  bathed 
my  eyes  in  this  water  until  my  sight  returned. 
And  then  as  great  a  happiness  as  the  return  of 


186          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

my  sight  was  the  news  that  some  Outagamis 
hunters  told  us  that  you  were  safe  with  the  Pot- 
tawattamies." 

Now  that  he  had  finished  telling  of  his  own 
adventures,  he  questioned  Tonty  about  how  he 
had  passed  the  winter.  "I  do  not  need  to  ask 
Raoul,"  he  added,  "for  his  pelts  told  me  the  tale 
of  his  winter  hunting." 

When  all  had  heard  the  full  story  and  the 
night  was  falling  Tonty  questioned:  "And  now, 
what  are  we  to  do  now?" 

"Once  again  must  I  return  to  Fort  Frontenac 
for  more  money  and  more  men,"  said  La  Salle. 
"Will  you  go  with  me,  Tonty,  or  await  me  here?" 

He  spoke  cheerfully  as  if  the  long  journey, 
the  difficult  task  of  procuring  loans  and  the  re 
newed  postponement  of  his  beloved  enterprise 
were  nothing;  but  Tonty,  though  he  marveled 
at  his  courage,  knew  better.  He  realized  that 
his  commander  had  need  of  company  on  his 
way.  "Of  a  surety  I  go  with  you,"  he  answered; 
"go  we  not  all  of  us?" 

"Nay,  we  leave  the  others  here  until  autumn." 
He  saw  the  disappointment  pictured  in  Raoul's 
fact,  but  it  did  not  move  him  to  change  his  plans. 
"You  can  help  Father  Membre,  lad,  if  you  will, 
to  save  heathen  souls.  Remember  it  was  for 
this  purpose  you  crossed  the  seas." 


SWIFT  FOX  187 

Raoul  made  the  best  of  it  and  watched  the 
two  depart  in  the  canoes  for  their  thousand- 
mile  journey.  He  did  not  follow  La  Salle's 
suggestion  about  teaching  the  Indians.  He  still 
believed  it  a  great  and  sacred  duty  for  Chris 
tians  to  impart  the  truths  of  their  faith  to  the 
savages,  but  he  had  learned  that  he  himself  had 
not  the  gifts  of  a  missionary.  Nevertheless,  he 
was  the  cause  which  brought  many  moccasined 
feet  over  the  sill  of  the  little  chapel.  He  was 
glad  to  serve  Father  Membre  by  singing  parts 
of  the  mass,  and  his  sweet  voice  attracted  the 
Indians.  They  had  heard  Black  Duck  call  him 
White  Thrush,  and  that  was  now  the  name  by 
which  he  was  always  to  be  known  among  them. 
He  made  many  Indian  friends;  his  intimate 
knowledge  of  their  ways  and  their  language 
made  it  possible  for  him  to  enter  into  their  life 
as  few  white  men  could  do.  "We  are  brothers," 
he  said,  and  they  knew  that  this  was  not  a  mere 
meaningless  phrase,  but  that  he  considered  the 
redmen  worthy  of  his  friendship.  Like  La  Salle, 
he  had  the  gift  of  insight  into  their  pride,  their 
hospitality  and  their  loyalty.  Like  him  too,  he 
would  fight  them  fiercely  when  need  was,  but 
when  he  could  he  would  be  friends  with  them. 

There  was  a  boy  of  his  own  age  that  winter, 
Swift  Fox,  a  Huron,  to  whom  he  had  seemed  a 


188         WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

rival.  Swift  Fox  hated  him  because  he  heard 
Raoul  praised  so  often  by  his  own  tribe.  Once 
his  mother  cried  out  to  him'  when  he  returned 
empty-handed  from  the  forest:  "Go,  learn  of 
White  Thrush  how  to  shoot  thine  arrow.  Then 
I  need  not  go  hungry  to  sleep."  He  brooded 
much  over  his  jealousy  and  waited  until  he 
found  his  opportunity. 

One  day  when  Raoul  was  walking  alone  on 
a  bluff  which  overhung  the  lake,  he  ran  up  be 
hind  him  and  pushed  him  over  and  laughed  as 
he  heard  the  body  strike  the  water. 

"Never  again  shall  he  boast  of  his  hunting," 
he  declared,  lying  flat  on  the  rock  and  looking 
over  it  down  into  the  water  below.  He  could 
see  Raoul  come  to  the  surface  and  struggle 
weakly.  He  could  not  know  that  White  Thrush, 
who  had  learned  to  swim  on  the  stormy  Breton 
coast,  would  have  thought  little  of  his  sudden 
bath  if  his  head  had  not  struck  a  rock  on  the 
shallow  bottom.  As  it  was,  Swift  Fox  saw  that 
he  was  drowning  and  he  knew  that  there  was  no 
one  else  near  enough  to  hear  the  faint  cries  for 
help.  Suddenly  something  seemed  to  snap  in  the 
Indian  boy's  brain,  and  he  discovered  that  he 
had  lost  his  hatred  of  White  Thrush.  His  one 
idea  now  was  to  save  him.  He  ran  hastily  down 
the  slope  nearer  the  spot  where  Raoul  had  been 


SWIFT  FOX  189 

swept,  and  dived.  Just  as  Raoul  was  sinking  for 
the  third  time  Swift  Fox  caught  hold  of  him  by 
his  hair  and  swam  rapidly,  pulling  him  to  the 
shore. 

During  the  half  hour  he  worked  over  him, 
staunching  the  blood  on  his  head  and  pumping 
the  water  out  of  his  lungs,  he  was  amazed  to 
discover  that  his  hatred  had  given  place  to  an 
almost  affectionate  interest  in  his  victim  and 
patient.  When  Raoul  opened  his  eyes  his  first 
consciousness  was  a  quick  flash  of  memory  of 
the  time  when  Denise  too  had  helped  save  him 
from  drowning. 

"For  the  sailor  I  believed  myself  to  be  it  is 
rather  humiliating  to  have  to  be  twice  saved 
from  drowning,"  he  thought  to  himself.  He  had 
not  seen  his  assailant,  but  he  was  almost  cer 
tain  that  it  was  Swift  Fox  who  had  tried  to 
kill  him.  Now,  however,  that  he  owed  his  life 
to  him,  it  was  not  worth  while  to  reproach  him. 

"Thank  you,  Swift  Fox,"  he  said  when  at 
last  he  was  able  to  rise.  "I  have  often  seen  how 
strong  you  are,  but  I  did  not  know  that  your 
strength  would  be  for  my  use  some  day.  Will 
you  go  sometime  with  me  into  the  forest?  I 
hear  that  no  boy  of  your  age  in  your  tribe  is  so 
good  a  hunter." 

"I  will  go  with  White  Thrush,"  answered  the 


190          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

Indian,  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  ground  from  shame 
at  the  other's  praise.  Then  after  a  struggle  he 
lifted  them  and  said:  "I  hated  you,  White 
Thrush,  and  sought  to  kill  you.  Now  my  heart 
is  changed,  and  I  would  be  your  brother  if  you 
will  forget." 

"I  remember  nothing  but  that  you  jumped 
into  the  lake  after  me,  Swift  Fox,"  said  Raoul. 
"We  are  brothers." 

So  from  that  day  on  the  two  boys  were  con 
stantly  in  each  other's  company.  The  Indian 
showed  the  French  lad  where  to  catch  the  big 
gest,  finest  fish  in  the  lake ;  played  ball  with  him 
and  taught  him  how  to  thread  lacrosse  crosses, 
and  initiated  him  into  all  the  methods  by  which 
he  had  become  the  leader  of  the  boys  of  his  vil 
lage.  In  return,  Raoul  gave  him  a  steel  knife 
and  taught  him  some  of  the  tricks  of  trapping 
which  Black  Duck  had  shown  to  him. 

With  this  companionship,  and  the  interest  of 
the  coming  and  going  of  voyageurs  and  coureurs 
de  bois  at  the  fort,  the  summer  days  passed 
quickly  enough,  and  with  November  came  the 
message  from  La  Salle  that  he  was  at  Fort 
Miami  and  that  Father  Membre,  Sieur  de  Bois- 
rondet  and  Raoul  should  join  him  there  at  once. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  GREAT  RIVER 

THIS  time,  please  God,  there  will  be  no 
turning  back,"  exclaimed  La  Salle.  "You 
read  of  Csesar  in  school,  did  you  not,  Raoul? 
Well,  I  too  have  crossed  my  Rubicon,  and 
neither  debts  nor  winter,  neither  deserters  nor 
hostile  Indians,  shall  rob  me  this  time  of  the 
fruits  of  my  efforts." 

Tonty,  Father  Membre  and  some  of  the  men 
had  started  off  a  few  days  before,  and  now  in 
Christmas  week  La  Salle  was  about  to  follow. 

"Count  me  the  men,  Raoul,"  he  commanded 
as  they  waited  until  all  the  canoes,  filled  with 
stores  of  food,  clothing,  ammunition  and  trink 
ets,  were  tied  tightly  on  the  sledges  which  were 
to  drag  them  over  the  frozen  lake  and  rivers. 

191 


192          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

"A  score  have  already  gone  with  Tonty,  Seig 
neur,"  and  he  called  off  the  names  from  a  small 
notebook.  "Now  come  the  Indians,  Abenakis 
and  Mohegans,  eighteen  there  are  of  them,  and 
the  squaws  and  even  three  children,"  he  added 
contemptuously. 

"We  were  better  off  unencumbered  with 
women  and  children,"  La  Salle  assented,  "but 
the  braves  would  not  come  without  them,  and 
perhaps  the  squaws  may  prove  useful  after  all." 

"Then  there  are  we  three,  Seigneur,"  Raoul 
added,  closing  the  notebook  in  which  he  had 
recorded  the  names  of  the  fifty- four;  "you, 
Etienne  and  I." 

"Are  you  too  glad  the  time  has  come?"  ques 
tioned  La  Salle,  fastening  his  snowshoe  firmly, 
though  Raoul  could  see  that  his  hands  were  trem 
bling,  "are  you  glad  to  be  going  instead  of  re 
maining  here  to  hunt  with  your  Pottawattamie 
trapper?" 

"You  know,  Seigneur,"  Raoul  replied,  his 
heart  beating  with  excitement  though  his  voice 
was  low  and  quiet. 

"Then  forward  in  the  name  of  St.  Louis!" 
cried  La  Salle,  striding  out  after  the  thin  line 
of  sledges  already  a  quarter  of  a  mile  ahead,  but 
not  beyond  the  sound  of  the  barking  dogs  and 
farewell  cries  of  the  Indians  and  white  men  at 


THE  GREAT  RIVER  193 

Fort  Miami,  on  the  St.  Joseph  river,  all  of  whom 
had  assembled  to  witness  the  departure. 

Across  the  lake  they  went  and  over  the  frozen 
Chicago  river,  till  once  again  they  found  them 
selves  on  the  river  of  the  Illinois. 

Raoul  had  now  a  definite  duty  assigned  to 
him,  and  he  stood  one  watch  every  night  in  ad 
dition  to  his  work  during  the  day,  which  was  to 
be  responsible  for  the  contents  of  one  of  the 
sledge-borne  canoes.  Camp  was  made  each 
night,  the  sledges  drawn  up  in  the  center  and 
huge  fires  lighted  in  a  circle  around  to  keep  off 
wild  beasts  and  the  cold. 

It  was  on  the  fourth  night  of  their  journey  that 
RaouFs  courage  was  tested.  They  had  not  made 
so  many  leagues  as  La  Salle  would  have  liked 
to  put  behind  him  because  progress  with  so  large 
a  party  was  necessarily  slow,  and  the  lake  still 
lay  not  very  far  in  their  rear.  It  was  the  second 
watch  of  the  night,  and  Raoul  was  pacing  up 
and  down  in  the  snow  a  few  feet  beyond  the 
fire.  It  was  so  hard  to  stay  awake  that  he  was 
expending  more  of  his  attention  on  keeping  his 
eyes  open  than  on  peering  into  the  surrounding 
blackness,  as  was  his  duty  as  a  sentinel.  Sud 
denly,  though  he  heard  no  sound,  he  was  con 
scious  that  someone  had  approached  and,  turn 
ing  quickly,  he  saw  a  figure  not  ten  paces  away. 


194          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

He  felt  a  thrill  of  fear  and  remorse;  he  knew 
that  he  should  have  observed  the  stranger  sooner 
but  there  was  no  time  to  warn  anyone;  he  must 
rely  on  himself.  He  had  no  chance  to  fire  his 
gun;  he  heard  an  arrow  whiz  close  to  his  ear. 
Unreasoning,  like  a  watchdog,  he  sprang  for 
ward  and  grappled  with  the  Indian  and,  to  the 
surprise  of  both,  Raoul's  onslaught  toppled  him 
over  into  the  snow. 

"Yield!  Yield,  or  I  will  kill  you!"  cried  Raoul, 
mad  with  excitement. 

By  this  time  the  noise  of  his  cries  had  awak 
ened  Etienne,  who  was  about  to  relieve  him  of 
his  watch,  and  he  came  running  up. 

"What  is  it?"  he  asked. 

"I  have  caught  a  prisoner,"  Raoul  replied, 
panting. 

The  prisoner  made  no  attempt  to  escape.  In 
stead  he  preceded  the  two  towards  the  fire. 
When  the  blaze  lighted  his  face  Raoul  exclaimed 
in  amazement:  "Swift  Fox!  Is  it  indeed  you?" 

"It  is  your  brother,  White  Thrush,"  the  Hur 
on  replied.  "I  followed  from  Michillimackinac 
to  Fort  Miami  and  over  the  portage  here.  When 
I  thought  that  White  Thrush  was  going  where 
I  could  not  see  him  for  many  moons,  perhaps 
never  again,  I  bade  my  mother  farewell  and  set 
out  on  your  trail." 


THE  GREAT  RIVER  195 

"But  why  did  you  shoot  at  me,  Swift  Fox?" 
Raoul  asked,  still  puzzled. 

"Just  to  frighten  you,  to  see  what  you  would 
do,"  the  Indian  boy  said  laughing.  "My  arrow 
was  not  aimed  to  hurt  you.  You  have  seen  me 
shoot  between  two  wood  pigeons  flying  side  by 
side  without  hitting  either." 

"I  am  glad  you  have  come,  Swift  Fox,"  Raoul 
said.  "To-morrow  morning  I  will  take  you  to 
the  Seigneur,  and  I  think  he  too  will  welcome 
you  on  the  expedition.  Now  warm  yourself  and 
then  we  shall  sleep." 

La  Salle  was  pleased  to  have  another  strong 
young  Indian  to  go  with  him,  one  whose  friend 
ship  for  Raoul  vouchsafed  for  his  loyalty.  The 
two  lads  worked  together  and  shared  the  same 
fire  and  food.  Raoul  pointed  out  to  the  Huron 
the  ruined  town  of  the  Illinois  and  told  him  the 
story  of  the  Iroquois  attack.  By  the  time  they 
had  reached  Lake  Peoria  the  weather  had  be 
come  warmer,  and  a  few  miles  beyond  the  ice 
vanished  and  the  canoes  slipped  from  the  sledges 
into  the  water.  The  passing  of  the  ice  seemed 
a  symbol  of  the  change  in  La  Salle's  spirit.  His 
troubles  melted  also ;  each  day  he  rose  buoyantly 
to  the  call  of  the  quest;  he  encouraged  the 
grumblers,  promised  success  to  the  fainthearted, 
and  spurred  on  the  laggards. 


196          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

He  consulted  oftener  with  the  Indians,  and 
time  after  time  spread  out  on  his  knee,  or  on  a 
stone  when  they  rested  on  shore  for  the  noon 
meal,  the'  parchments  on  which  he  had  drawn 
the  course  of  his  journey  so  far,  and  the  prob 
able  points  of  the  land  ahead,  as  it  was  described 
to  him  by  the  Indians  along  the  way.  He  knew 
that  the  entrance  to  the  river  could  not  be  far 
distant. 

"See!"  he  cried  to  Tonty  one  day  almost  at 
sunset  as  he  pointed  ahead  of  their  swift  canoe, 
his  voice  ringing  out  until  it  was  echoed  back, 
"yonder  is  my  Great  River!" 

Frenchmen  and  Indians,  who  had  heard 
rumors  of  the  great  stream  which  flowed  for  so 
many  leagues  through  the  lands  of  many  tribes, 
gazed  eagerly  in  the  direction  to  which  La  Salle 
pointed.  They  felt  the  wonder  of  the  moment, 
but  no  one,  not  even  Raoul  who  came  nearest  to 
doing  so,  could  realize  what  the  sight  meant  to 
La  Salle. 

"I  did  not  know  a  river  could  be  so  large  and 
so  swift,"  said  Etienne  to  Raoul  as  later  they 
found  themselves  borne  along  on  the  yellow 
flood  of  the  Mississippi. 

"It  is  wonderful,  Tonty,  is  it  not?"  La  Salle 
said  the  night  after  they  had  passed  the  mouth 
of  the  Missouri,  "that  we  should  not  know  what 


THE  GREAT  RIVER  197 

is  ahead  of  us.  How  monotonous  an  existence 
it  is  always  to  walk  along  highroads  traversed 
by  all  the  world !  Had  there  been  no  new  world 
to  explore  and  had  I  been  obliged  to  tread  only 
in  old  paths,  I  believe  I  should  have  tried  to 
find  some  way  to  reach  the  stars!" 

He  spoke  so  enthusiastically  that  Raoul,  who 
was  amusedly  watching  a  squirrel  approach  cau 
tiously  toward  the  fire,  was  struck  by  his  tone 
and  words. 

"He  is  indeed  young,"  he  explained  to  Swift 
Fox  when  he  had  repeated  what  he  had  heard. 
"Because  he  is  a  grown  man  it  is  natural  for  us 
to  think  of  him  as  having  left  his  boyhood  far 
behind,  but  now  I  know  there  is  a  side  of  him 
that  is  as  young  as  we  are." 

"He  is  a  fine  brave,"  the  Indian  assented. 

Each  day  they  swept  swiftly  farther  south 
ward,  passing  the  mouth  of  the  Ouabache  river 
( Wabash) ,  and  a  town  of  the  Tamaroas.  Little 
that  was  startling  happened  except  that  one  of 
the  men  who  set  out  one  day  to  hunt  did  not  re 
turn,  and  it  was  thought  that  he  had  been  killed. 
Search  parties  went  out  and  six  days  later  he 
was  found.  He  said  that  he  had  lost  his  way  and 
had  almost  died  from  hunger. 

"My  fur  cap  and  my  coat  are  too  warm,"  ex 
claimed  Raoul  one  morning  to  Swift  Fox. 


198         WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

"Never  have  I  felt  such  a  sun  in  this  moon.  The 
leaves  are  already  open  here,  though  at  Mich- 
illimackinac  the  lake  is  still  frozen  solid,  and  here 
the  ground  is  covered  too  with  sprouting  vines 
and  bushes." 

"The  warm  air  is  good,"  the  Indian  admitted, 
stretching  himself  lazily  out  on  a  little  beach 
where  they  were  resting.  "It  is  better  to  be 
warm  than  cold." 

Day  by  day  it  grew  warmer.  Snow  was  for 
gotten  and  green  vines  hung  down  from  the 
banks  of  the  river  as  they  drifted  along.  A 
thick  fog  one  morning  cut  off  the  world  all 
around. 

"Hearken!"  cried  La  Salle.  "What  is  that 
sound  to  the  right?" 

Everyone  listened  and  now  the  noise  came 
plainly  over  the  water. 

"It  is  the  beating  of  a  war  drum,"  said  Tonty, 
"and  the  cries  must  be  those  of  braves  dancing 
a  war  dance." 

It  would  perhaps  have  been  possible  to  slip 
by  under  cover  of  the  fog,  but  La  Salle's 
policy  would  not  permit  of  his  leaving  in  his 
rear  hostile  tribes  or  those  of  whose  feeling  he 
was  uncertain.  He  ordered  the  canoes  to  make 
for  the  opposite  shore,  and  landing  all  of  his 


THE  GREAT  RIVER  199 

party,  he  soon  had  them  erecting  a  rough  fort 
of  logs  which  they  had  hastily  cut  down. 

"We  must  expect  the  worst,"  called  Etienne 
to  his  nearest  neighbor  as  he  lifted  huge  logs  in 
his  strong  arms.  "Naught  is  known  by  white 
men  of  these  Indians  here;  but  remember  the 
tales  the  Illinois  told  us  of  the  monsters  we 
should  find.  They  can't  be  worse  though  than 
the  Iroquois,  I'm  thinking." 

The  Frenchmen,  now  somewhat  protected  by 
their  rampart,  waited  for  the  fog  to  lift.  When 
it  suddenly  cleared  they  saw  the  Indians  on  the 
other  side  gazing  at  them  in  amazement.  La 
Salle  made  signs  to  come  over  and  Beaver  Tail, 
Haoul,  and  Swift  Fox  called  out  to  them  in 
different  Indian  languages  that  they  were 
friends.  Finally  some  of  the  Indians  jumped 
into  a  canoe  and  paddled  over  part  of  the  way. 

"Take  the  calumet  and  go  down  to  the  bank," 
La  Salle  commanded  Etienne.  The  French 
man  walked  leisurely  down  to  the  river  as  if  he 
were  sauntering  along  a  street  in  Quebec,  and 
held  out  the  calumet. 

"They  are  coming  ashore,"  Tonty  exclaimed. 
"They  have  greeted  Etienne  as  a  friend.  We 
shall  not  have  to  fight  after  all." 

So  La  Salle,  after  a  few  words  with  them,  in 
which  they  told  him  they  were  a  Kappa  band 


200         WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

of  the  Arkansas,  gave  orders  to  embark  again 
in  the  canoes  and  make  for  the  Indian  village. 

"I  have  never  seen  friendlier  Indians,"  he  re 
marked  later  in  the  day,  "nor  finer  physical 
specimens  than  they."  They  had  been  welcomed 
as  guests  by  the  whole  village  except  the  squaws, 
who  had  shyly  run  away  to  hide.  The  Indians 
built  huts  for  their  visitors,  brought  them  fire 
wood  and  food.  Father  Membre  was  particu 
larly  struck  with  their  characteristics:  "They 
are  gay,  civil  and  free-hearted,"  he  said  to  La 
Salle  during  the  three  days  they  rested  among 
them.  "The  young  men,  though  the  most  alert 
and  spirited  we  have  seen,  are  nevertheless  so 
modest  that  not  one  of  them  will  take  the  lib 
erty  to  enter  our  hut.  They  are  so  well  formed 
that  I  am  in  admiration  of  their  beauty."* 

"We  must  not  go  farther  until  we  have  se 
cured  this  land  to  France,"  said  La  Salle  to 
Tonty.  "Come,  Father,  unfurl  the  banner  and 
let  us  take  possession  in  the  King's  name." 

The  Arkansas  rushed  from  their  huts  when 
they  caught  sight  of  the  little  procession  and 
the  waving  banner.  They  flocked  to  the  open 
space  where  councils  were  held  and  listened  in 
astonishment  to  the  hymn  which  Father  Membre 
and  Raoul  sang,  and  to  the  shouts  of  "Long  live 

*This  opinion  is  quoted  from  a  letter  of  Father  Membr6. 


THE  GREAT  RIVER  201 

the  King!"  Swift  Fox  was  scarcely  less  im 
pressed  at  the  ceremony  which  he  comprehended 
only  dimly.  . 

Their  hosts  told  them  of  the  other  tribes  whose 
lands  lay  below  theirs  on  the  Great  River,  and 
of  the  wonderful  town  of  the  Taensas  (about 
twenty  miles  from  the  present  city  of  Natchez) . 
They  seemed  sad  when  the  Frenchmen  departed. 

As  they  floated  along  Raoul  and  Swift  Fox 
amused  themselves  shooting  their  arrows  at 
ducks  and  other  waterfowl;  and  if  the  current 
were  not  too  strong,  one  of  them  would  spring 
overboard  and  bring  back  the  quarry.  When 
there  was  no  game  they  sometimes  practised 
aiming  at  trees  on  the  bank. 

"I  will  hit  that  log  ahead  directly  in  the  mid 
dle,"  boasted  Swift  Fox,  and  drew  his  bow.  The 
arrow  struck  the  very  spot  at  which  he  had 
aimed  but,  to  the  utter  amazement  of  the  two 
boys,  the  log  lifted  itself  up  slightly  in  the  water 
and  they  saw  that  it  was  alive. 

"It  is  a  beast,"  cried  Raoul.  "Oh,  I  know,  it 
must  be  an  alligator  of  which  the  Kappas  spoke. 
But  is  it  possible  they  can  be  telling  the  truth 
when  they  say  they  are  hatched  from  eggs  like 
fowls?" 

Soon  they  had  become  quite  accustomed  to  the 


202          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

sight  of  the  curious  creatures  and  had  killed 
several  of  them. 

Now  the  villages  because  more  frequent. 
Tonty  and  Father  Membre  went  to  visit  the  town 
of  the  Taensas  where  the  houses  were  large  and 
square  with  a  domed  roof,  and  where  there  was 
a  temple  with  a  fire  that  was  never  allowed  to 
go  out.  Tonty  told  the  chief  of  La  Salle,  and 
the  chief,  perhaps  actuated  by  curiosity,  an 
nounced  that  he  would  waive  his  usual  custom 
and  go  to  see  the  stranger  instead  of  waiting 
for  him  to  come  to  him. 

"They  believe  he  is  a  descendant  of  the  Sun," 
explained  Swift  Fox,  who  had  been  talking  to 
some  of  his  people,  while  the  white-clad  chief, 
before  whom  walked  two  men  carrying  large 
white  fans  and  another  with  a  copper  disk,  talked 
with  La  Salle,  who  knew  just  how  to  please  the 
chief  with  ceremonious  greetings  and  presents. 

Farther  on,  a  few  days  later,  they  passed 
through  the  villages  of  the  Natchez.  Here  again 
La  Salle  knew  how  to  make  friends  with  them, 
and  once  again  he  planted  a  cross  and  declared 
the  land  the  property  of  the  King  of  France. 

"They  do  not  know  what  it  means,"  remarked 
Etienne  dryly;  "for  if  they  did  they  might  not 
be  so  friendly  with  us.  Though  I  admit  the 


THE  GREAT  RIVER  203 

Seigneur  really  means  well  by  them  and  would 
not  let  us  harm  them." 

Everywhere  they  passed,  the  different  tribes 
greeted  them  as  friends  until  they  came  opposite 
a  Tillage  of  the  Oumas.  Some  fishermen  fled 
when  they  caught  sight  of  the  white  men,  and 
when  some  of  the  Frenchmen  pursued,  the  In 
dians  shot  at  them.  La  Salle,  realizing  that  this 
act  was  caused  rather  by  the  fear  of  a  few  in 
dividuals  than  by  the  policy  of  the  whole  tribe, 
called  off  his  men  before  there  was  further  fight 
ing,  and  they  continued  on  their  way. 

RaouFs  own  eagerness  to  reach  the  mouth  of 
the  river  gave  him  an  understanding  of  La 
Salle's  deep  emotion  as  they  neared  the  goal  for 
which  he  had  toiled  so  many  years.  Though  he 
had  been  glad  of  the  companionship  of  Swift 
Fox,  now  he  could  not  bear  to  be  away  from  the 
Seigneur.  Neither  of  them  talked  much,  but  the 
boy  was  conscious  that  his  commander  felt  his 
silent  sympathy,  and  that  it  was  a  comfort  to 
him. 

On  the  sixth  of  April  they  came  to  a  point 
where  three  branches  of  the  river  forked. 

"I  will  take  the  westernmost  branch,"  said  La 
Salle.  "You,  Tonty,  the  middle  one,  and  you, 
D'Autray,  the  eastern  one.  We  shall  meet 
later." 


204          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

Raoul,  without  waiting  for  an  order,  jumped 
into  the  canoe  with  La  Salle  and  took  a  paddle 
from  one  of  the  Indians,  feeling  the  need  of 
physical  action  to  help  bring,  himself,  the 
longed-for  moment  more  quickly.  For  the  rest 
of  the  day  they  swept  on  through  low  marshes 
from  which  ducks  and  other  birds  flew  up  as  they 
approached.  Once  Raoul  caught  sight  of  white 
wings  flashing  in  the  sky  above  him,  and  he  won 
dered  if  he  could  be  right  in  believing  them  to 
belong  to  a  seagull. 

That  night  it  was  difficult  to  find  ground  firm 
enough  for  a  camp,  but  at  last  they  discovered 
above  the  marshes  a  strip  of  sandy  soil,  dry  and 
covered  with  a  coarse  grass.  Raoul  could  not 
sleep.  At  dawn  he  got  up  and  felt  a  strong 
breeze  from  the  southward.  He  put  out  his 
tongue  and  felt  that  it  was  salt!  He  started  to 
run  with  the  wind  in  his  face,  and  soon  his  ears 
caught  the  sound  of  a  dull,  regular  roar. 

"The  sea!  The  sea!"  he  cried  out  as  he  sped 
on. 

Then  suddenly  he  stopped  and  closed  his  eyes 
until  he  should  have  decided  the  question  that 
had  just  come  to  him. 

"If  I  go  on,"  he  said,  speaking  out  loud,  "I 
shall  see  the  sea  in  another  few  minutes,  and  I 
shall  be  the  first .  But  shall  I  not  then  be  rob- 


THE  GREAT  RIVER  205 

bing  the  Seigneur?     Is  it  not  he  who  has  this 
right?" 

It  was  hard  to  turn  back,  but  with  eyes  still 
closed  for  fear  he  might  behold  what  he  so  longed 
to  see,  Raoul  started  back,  the  wind  now  behind 
him,  and  when  he  reached  the  camp,  he  threw 
himself  down,  and  though  he  would  not  have 
thought  it  possible,  soon  fell  asleep  again. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE   GOAL 

THE  wind  was  still  blowing  when  he  awoke 
and  the  sun  was  shining  in  the  bluest  of 
skies.    La  Salle  too  had  tasted  the  brine  of  the 
wind,  and  was  as  if  intoxicated  by  it. 

"Up,  men,"  he  cried.  "The  sun  is  calling  us." 
More  than  the  sun  was  calling  to  him:  all  the 
dreams  of  his  youth  and  manhood  were  exulting 
in  this  moment  of  success.  All  the  fatigues  and 
failures  of  past  years,  the  doubts  and  delays, 
were  forgotten,  or  rather,  they  were  remem 
bered  only  as  a  bitterness  which  made  the  pres 
ent  draught  of  achievement  all  the  sweeter. 

He  would  not  wait  even  for  food,  and  soon 
the  canoes  were  launched  and  the  men  were 
pushing  their  way  through  the  marshes.  With 
in  a  quarter  of  an  hour  the  sound  of  the  waves 
was  plainly  audible,  beating  like  a  drum  to  La 
Salle's  eager  spirit.  Then  the  reeds  came  to  an 

206 


THE  GOAL  207 

end  and  the  sunshine  flashed  upon  the  endless 
waters  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

The  water  spoke  to  him  of  achievement  and 
promise,  of  what  he  had  done  and  what  he  had 
still  to  do.  He  had  proved  gloriously,  against 
all  disbelief,  the  possibility  of  a  passageway 
from  France,  via  Quebec  and  the  great  inland 
seas,  down  the  Father  of  Waters,  as  the  Indians 
called  his  Great  River,  to  this  new  southern  sea. 
Here,  safely  past  hostile  savages,  he  had  brought 
this  little  band  of  Frenchmen.  Now,  he  believed, 
the  way  to  China  and  Japan  was  half  traversed. 
Already  his  imagination  was  actively  pic 
turing  the  commerce  which,  because  of  his  dream, 
his  faith  and  his  endurance,  should  ascend  and 
descend  to  New  and  Old  France  by  the  way  he 
had  cleared  through  forest  and  prairie.  He  felt 
himself  uplifted  as  one  who  beholds  for  the  first 
time  a  great  land  from  a  mountain  summit. 

La  Salle  gazed  in  silence  as  if  he  could  never 
see  enough.  He  had  no  words  for  his  emotion; 
only  his  hand  found  Raoul's  hand  near  and  he 
almost  crushed  it  with  his  nervous  fingers.  But 
the  others  were  not  silent:  Frenchmen  and  In 
dians  cried  out  their  delight,  and  their  shouts 
sent  seagulls  from  their  nests  whirring  into  the 
air  above  them.  From  the  distance  towards  the 
east  came  two  echoes,  so  that  La  Salle  knew 


208          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

that  Tonty  and  D'Auray  had  also  reached  their 
end  of  the  journey.  Soon  they  had  all  met  and 
camped  on  firm  ground  above  the  water  line. 

"Cut  down  yonder  tree  and  fashion  it  into  a 
post,"  commanded  La  Salle  after  he  had  listened 
with  a  smiling  face  to  the  congratulations  of  his 
comrades.  "Surely  never  a  tree  in  this  western 
world  grew  to  such  a  destiny  as  this." 

When  it  was  cut  and  smoothed  he  bade  them 
carve  on  it  the  Lilies  of  France  and  the  words : 

"Louis  Le  Grand,  Roy  de  France  et  de 
Navarre,  Regne;  Le  Neuvieme  Avril,  1682." 

Every  Frenchman  stood  the  straighter  as  they 
sang  the  Latin  hymns  of  thanksgiving,  the  Te 
Deum,  the  Exaudial,  and  the  Domine  Salvium 
fac  Reg  em.  The  Indians  uttered  whoops  of  joy 
and  danced  about  while  muskets  rang  out  and 
cries  of  "Long  Live  the  King!"  Raoul  helped 
La  Salle  to  plant  the  post  and  when  it  was  firm, 
the  Seigneur,  with  his  hand  resting  on  it,  called 
out  in  a  loud  voice,  as  if  challenging  all  the  other 
kings  of  the  earth  to  witness: 

"In  the  name  of  the  most  high,  mighty,  invincible,  and 
victorious  Prince,  Louis  the  Great,  by  the  grace  of  God, 
King  of  France  and  of  Navarre,  Fourteenth  of  that  name, 
I  this  ninth  day  of  April,  one  thousand  six  hundred  and 
eighty-two,  in  virtue  of  the  commission  of  his  Majesty, 
which  I  hold  in  my  hand,  and  which  may  be  seen  by  all 
whom  it  may  concern,  have  taken,  and  do  now  take,  in 


THE  GOAL  209 

the  name  of  his  Majesty  and  of  his  successors  to  the 
crown,  possession  of  this  country  of  Louisiana,  the  seas, 
harbors,  ports,  bays,  adjacent  straits,  and  all  the  nations, 
peoples,  provinces,  cities,  towns,  villages,  mines,  minerals, 
fisheries,  streams  and  rivers,  within  the  extent  of  the  said 
Louisiana,  from  the  mouth  of  the  great  river  St.  Louis, 
otherwise  called  the  Ohio  ...  as  also  along  the  river 
Colbert,  or  Mississippi,  and  the  rivers  which  discharge 
themselves  thereinto,  from  its  sources  beyond  the  country 
of  the  Nadouessioux  ...  as  far  as  its  mouth  at  the  sea, 
or  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  also  to  the  mouth  of  the  River  of 
Palms,  upon  the  assurance  we  have  had  from  the  natives 
of  these  countries,  that  we  are  the  first  Europeans  who 
have  descended  or  ascended  the  said  river  Colbert;  hereby 
protesting  against  all  who  may  hereafter  undertake  to 
invade  any  or  all  of  these  aforesaid  countries,  peoples,  or 
lands,  to  the  prejudice  of  the  rights  of  his  Majesty, 
acquired  by  the  consent  of  the  nations  dwelling  herein. 
Of  which,  and  of  all  else  that  is  needful,  I  hereby  take  to 
witness  those  who  hear  me,  and  demand  an  act  of  the 
notary  here  present."  * 

"Your  king  has  a  great  subject,"  said  Tonty 
to  Raoul  when  the  ceremony  was  over.  "I  won 
der  if  he  will  ever  realize  what  a  realm  Sieur  de 
La  Salle  has  won  for  him,  greater  far  than  all 
of  fair  France.  From  the  mountains  of  the  east, 
the  Alleghanies,  to  the  mountains  to  the  west  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  from  this  gulf  north  to 
where  the  Great  River  begins — this  Louisiana 
of  his  extends.  How  musical  is  the  word  its 

*  La  Salle's  own  words. 


210          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

finder  has  given  it.  I  believe  his  heart  has  re 
peated  it  to  him  for  many  years  already,  as  a 
man  repeats  the  name  of  the  woman  he  loves." 

The  great  work  was  done,  and  now  all  began 
to  ask  what  next.  There  were  some  who  were 
disappointed  that  the  end  of  their  long  journey 
had  not  led  them  to  the  treasures  of  gold  and 
precious  jewels  they  had  dreamed  of  finding,  but 
La  Salle  felt  that  the  story  he  had  to  tell  was 
worth  more  than  nuggets  and  pearls. 

"We  must  go  back,"  he  said,  "to  report  our 
discovery  and  to  make  ready  for  the  days  when 
traders  will  begin  to  pass  back  and  forth.  Would 
that  our  Griffin  had  not  been  lost.  We  could 
have  loaded  her  with  furs  along  the  way  and 
so  have  made  the  beginning  of  the  commerce 
which  shall  pass  over  these  waters." 

It  was  indeed  necessary  to  start  at  once. 
There  was  almost  no  food  left  in  the  canoes  and 
the  alligator  meat,  which  was  all  they  could 
shoot,  was  strange  and  unpleasant  to  their  pal 
ates. 

"Shall  we  stop  among  the  Quinipissas,  who 
proved  not  over  friendly  on  our  way  down?" 
asked  Etienne. 

"I  think  we  cannot  wait  longer  for  food,"  La 


THE  GOAL  211 

Salle  decided.    "The  squaws  and  the  children  are 
already  suffering." 

Their  fears  of  a  hostile  reception  seemed  un 
founded.  The  Quinipissas  at  their  approach 
came  down  to  the  river  and  brought  them  corn 
and  other  food  and  bade  them  come  ashore  to 
rest. 

"Seigneur,"  said  Raoul  as  they  were  seated 
beneath  a  widespreading  live  oak,  watching  the 
squaws  cook  the  food,  "trust  them  not  over  much. 
Swift  Fox,  though  he  understands  no  more  of 
their  tongue  than  I  do,  misdoubts  them." 

"That  falls  in  with  my  own  feeling,"  La 
Salle  answered;  "yet  it  was  worth  risking  some 
thing  in  order  to  be  fed.  We  will  not  enter  the 
lodges  they  offer.  It  is  so  warm,  we  will  say, 
that  we  like  best  to  sleep  out  there  where  it  is 
open.  You,  Swift  Fox,  Etienne,  and  other 
trusted  men,  will  keep  careful  watch  during  the 
night." 

It  was  after  midnight  that  the  two  boys  be 
held  dim  figures  creeping  through  the  darkness, 
and  gave  the  alarm.  Muskets  at  once  opened 
fire  and  the  Quinipissas  fled  in  terror,  leaving 
several  dead  on  the  field.  As  soon  as  it  was 
light  La  Salle  gave  orders  to  embark  and  they 
departed  without  further  molestation. 

Some  of  the  other  tribes  which  had  greeted 


212          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

them  in  so  friendly  a  fashion  on  their  way  down 
the  river  had  changed  their  attitude,  and  La  Salle 
could  feel  that  they  were  no  longer  sincere,  even 
when  they  called  him  their  friend  and  brought 
food  to  him. 

"It  is  likely  they  have  been  influenced  by  the 
Quinipissas,"  he  suggested,  "and  fear  us.  Well, 
let  them  plan  any  tricks  they  like;  they  will  find 
us  ready  for  them." 

So  whatever  the  plans  of  the  Indians  may 
have  been,  though  their  braves  kept  the  explorers 
surrounded,  the  armed  Frenchmen  never  gave 
them  a  chance  to  strike. 

For  several  days  Raoul  had  noted  a  change 
in  the  Seigneur.  It  seemed  to  him  that  his  in 
terest  in  everything  about  him  was  dulled.  "I 
do  not  understand,"  he  said  to  Etienne  when 
they  had  halted  in  the  shade  one  noon  because 
the  sun  was  too  hot  to  be  borne.  "Is  he  angry 
with  any  of  us,  think  you,  Etienne?  He  would 
not  let  me  in  his  canoe  this  morning,  and  he  has 
allowed  Sieur  Tonty  to  give  all  the  orders  to 
day.  He  is  like  another  man." 

The  voyageur  looked  grave  and  was  silent  for 
a  time,  thinking.  "He  is  ill,  boy,  with  the 
fever,"  he  said.  "I  have  seen  it  coming  for  sev 
eral  days.  There  is  little  enough  we  shall  be 


THE  GOAL  213 

able  to  do  for  him,  but  I  count  on  you  to  help 
me." 

That  night  La  Salle's  condition  was  apparent 
to  everyone.  He  lay  in  a  stupor  on  the  rough 
bed  of  leaves  covered  with  his  coat.  Everyone, 
Frenchmen  and  Indians,  wondered  what  would 
become  of  them  if  he  should  not  recover.  They 
respected  Tonty,  but  all,  even  the  youngest 
child,  knew  that  it  was  La  Salle  whose  will  kept 
them  going  and  in  safety. 

Raoul  shared  the  sick  watches  with  Etienne. 
The  helpless  man  to  whose  lips  he  lifted  water 
was  dearer  than  ever.  He  prayed  while  he 
watched  that  La  Salle  might  soon  be  restored  to 
health. 

Tonty,  and  La  Salle  himself  in  lucid  mo 
ments,  knew  that  it  was  better  to  hasten  to 
higher  ground;  so  a  canoe  was  made  comfort 
able  as  it  could  be  for  the  ill  man,  and  they  con 
tinued  the  journey.  At  last  they  reached  Fort 
Prudhomme  which  they  had  built  on  a  bluff  on 
their  downward  journey. 

"I  can  go  no  farther,  Tonty,"  La  Salle  said 
in  a  feeble  voice  when  they  had  borne  him  ashore. 
"You  must  leave  me  and  carry  the  great  news  to 
Michillimackinac.  From  there  they  will  spread 
it  over  all  New  France.  I  can  wait  no  longer 
to  let  the  world  know  of  our  success." 


214    WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

"Yet  how  can  I  leave  you  here,  ill?"  asked 
Tonty  with  real  concern. 

"I  shall  be  better  here  where  there  are  no 
marshes  and  where  the  air  blows  fresh  and 
strong.  Father  Membre,  Etienne  and  Raoul 
will  care  for  me,  will  you  not,  lad?"  he  turned 
to  smile  at  the  boy,  who  came  nearer  as  if  to 
prove  that  he  could  be  counted  on  every  minute. 
"I  will  follow  you  as  soon  as  I  may,"  he  con 
tinued,  "and  fear  not  for  me.  It  is  not  of  a  fever 
I  shall  die,  I  am  assured." 

Raoul  repeated  these  words  to  himself  for 
comfort  many  nights  when  it  seemed  as  if  La 
Salle  could  not  live  till  morning.  But  at  last, 
when  July  was  nearly  over,  and  he  had  been  ill 
for  forty  days,  Father  Membre  pronounced  his 
patient  well  enough  to  travel.  So  once  again 
they  set  off,  traveling  slowly. 

It  was  September  before  all  of  those  who  had 
taken  part  in  the  expedition  met  again  at  Mich- 
illimackinac.  La  Salle  was  still  weak,  but  the 
sight  of  Tonty  and  the  cool  autumn  winds 
brought  the  color  back  into  his  cheeks.  Soon  he 
was  almost  himself  again  and  eager  to  begin  his 
work  in  settling  a  colony  on  the  Illinois  river 
where  would  be  the  storehouse  for  the  furs  he 
meant  to  collect  up  and  down  the  Mississippi. 
It  might  serve  to  hold  the  Iroquois  in  check, 


THE  GOAL  215 

and  as  he  had  learned  that  that  nation  was  plan 
ning  another  raid  against  the  western  tribes,  he 
knew  he  must  lose  no  time.  So  once  more  they 
started  off  southward  and  before  long  they  had 
chosen  the  spot,  a  steep  rock  on  the  banks  of 
the  Illinois,  for  their  fortress,  which  La  Salle 
called  Fort  St.  Louis  (near  the  present  town  of 
Utica,  Illinois). 

"There  are  few  better  natural  fortifications  in 
the  world,  I  should  say,"  said  Tonty  as  they 
toiled  up  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet 
to  the  summit.  "See  how  easy  it  will  be  to  de 
fend  this  ascent  with  a  few  guns,  and  the  other 
side  is  a  sheer  wall  down  to  the  river." 

"It  is  lucky  that  it  is  so  flat  on  top,"  added 
La  Salle;  and  at  once  gave  orders  to  cut  down 
the  trees,  and  to  build  first  a  palisade  and  then 
the  necessary  houses. 

"Now  we  are  settled,"  he  said  a  day  or  two 
later,  "and  our  winter's  work  must  be  to  prove 
to  the  Indians  that  we  mean  to  be  their  friends 
and  to  protect  them  from  the  Iroquois.  You, 
Raoul,  can  give  me  great  help  and  render  a  loyal 
service  to  your  King  this  winter  and  after  I 
leave  for  France,  by  using  all  your  knowledge 
of  Indian  ways  to  make  them  like  us.  We 
French  are  not  like  the  English  and  the  Dutch, 
who  look  down  on  the  redmen.  We  have  found 


216         WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

that  they  can  be  loyal  and  hospitable  and  that 
our  interests  can  be  the  same." 

"I  shall  be  proud  if  I  can  serve  you  thus, 
Seigneur,"  Raoul  answered,  "but  I  would  it  were 
not  necessary  for  you  to  go  again  to  France, 
or  if  you  must  go,  will  you  not  take  me  with 
you?"  he  begged  eagerly. 

"I  have  talked  to  you,  lad,  as  if  you  were  my 
son,"  La  Salle  answered.  They  were  standing 
on  the  edge  of  the  cliff,  looking  down  at  the  clear 
river  below.  The  snow  had  not  yet  come  and 
the  forests  were  still  red  with  the  brilliant  leaves 
the  winds  had  spared.  Behind  them  rang  the 
cheerful  sound  of  axes,  and  far  off  in  the  dis 
tance  they  could  hear  the  barking  of  dogs  in  a 
village  of  the  Illinois,  who  had  come  close  to  the 
new  fort  for  protection. 

La  Salle  continued:  "I  have  told  you  some 
thing,  but  not  all,  of  the  new  trouble  my  ene 
mies  have  stirred  up  for  me  since  the  news 
reached  them  of  my  success.  My  good  friend, 
Count  Frontenac,  has  been  recalled  to  France 
from  the  governorship  of  Canada  just  because 
he  is  my  friend,  and  the  new  Governor,  Le 
Febvre  de  la  Barre,  is  not  well  disposed  towards 
me.  He  is  jealous  of  me.  I  have  written  to 
him,  asking  for  his  support,  though  I  told  him 
that  I  knew  that  my  enemies  would  seek  to 


THE  GOAL  217 

influence  him  against  me.  Therefore,  when  the 
time  comes,  I  must  go  to  France  to  defend  my 
self  against  the  charges  of  those  who  would  in 
jure  me,  and  to  beg  the  King  to  assist  me  fur 
ther  in  the  new  plans  I  have  for  securing  and 
settling  the  new  province  I  have  won  for  him." 

"I  understand,"  Raoul  replied,  and  added 
rapidly,  as  if  he  feared  that  La  Salle  might  an 
swer  before  he  had  finished,  "that  you  must  go, 
but  will  you  not  let  me  go  with  you?  Perhaps 
I  may  be  able  to  serve  you  even  in  France,  and 
perhaps  it  would  please  you  to  know  that  there 
was  one  about  who  would  die  for  you." 

"It  pleases  me  much,  my  son,"  said  La  Salle 
with  a  rare  smile.  "I  will  take  you  gladly,  so 
that  when  we  weary  of  court  language  we  can 
speak  the  tongue  of  the  Illinois  together." 

"Will  it  be  soon  that  we  leave?"  Raoul  ques 
tioned  joyously. 

"Not  for  many  moons  yet,  young  warrior," 
replied  La  Salle  affectionately.  "I  am  but  look 
ing  into  the  future." 

In  the  months  which  followed  Raoul  lost  no 
opportunity  of  making  friends  with  the  different 
tribes  who  were  now  settled  near  the  fort.  There 
were  not  only  the  six  thousand  or  more  Illinois 
who  had  returned  to  their  old  haunts,  but  Swan- 
oes,  Abenakis,  Miamis  and  Chickasaws.  White 


218          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

Thrush  was  welcomed  everywhere:  he  hunted 
with  the  hunters,  trapped  beasts  for  their  pelts 
which  he  took  to  La  Salle  and  gave  the  meat  to 
the  old  squaws  who  had  no  sons  to  hunt  for  them, 
and  played  lacrosse  with  lads  of  his  own  age. 
Swift  Fox  was  often  with  him,  but  a  certain 
jealousy  between  the  different  tribes  kept  him 
from  being  as  welcome  a  guest  in  strange  lodges 
as  the  French  boy.  La  Salle  depended  much 
on  RaouFs  reports  to  keep  him  in  touch  with 
the  temper  of  his  Indian  allies.  He  found  that 
month  by  month  they  grew  more  accustomed  to 
look  to  the  French  for  protection.  When  spring 
came  they  told  Raoul  of  the  rumor  that  the  Iro- 
quois  were  about  to  make  another  attack  on 
them ;  so  once  again  La  Salle  was  forced  to  post 
pone  his  departure. 

With  La  Salle's  consent,  Raoul  was  fre 
quently  absent  on  hunting  trips  and  visits  to 
the  different  tribes.  The  boy  often  smiled  when 
he  thought  what  a  difference  a  few  years  had 
made  in  him  since  the  day  he  was  washed  ashore 
at  the  Dubois  farm,  so  ignorant  of  all  that  a  man 
must  know  who  was  to  live  in  the  new  country. 
Now  few  Indians  of  his  age  were  better  fitted 
than  he  to  find  his  way  through  the  forests,  to 
kill  what  he  needed  for  food,  or  to  meet  a  wel 
come  at  the  fire  of  a  strange  wigwam.  It  was 


THE  GOAL  219 

one  day,  after  months  had  passed  and  the  threat 
ened  attack  had  failed  to  take  place,  when  the 
softly  falling  snow  had  covered  all  tracks,  that 
Raoul,  on  the  trail  of  a  great  buck,  let  himself 
he  led  farther  than  he  had  yet  gone  away  from 
the  fort.  For  two  days  he  had  followed  the  deer, 
keenly  happy  in  the  present  and  eager  to  match 
his  endurance  and  his  cunning  with  that  of  the 
beast,  which  too  seemed  conscious  of  the  contest. 
A  faint  whiff  of  smoke  came  to  RaouFs  nos 
trils.  The  caution  which  had  become  his  second 
nature  made  him  pause.  He  knew  that  there 
were  no  villages  of  the  friendly  tribes  in  this  part 
of  the  country,  and  he  remembered  the  rumors 
of  the  intended  invasion  by  the  Iroquois.  He 
saw  regretfully  that  the  buck's  tracks  led  to  the 
left,  while  the  smoke  came  from  the  right,  but 
he  decided  to  give  up  one  chase  for  the  possi 
bility  of  bigger  game.  He  was  now  so  white 
with  snow  flakes  that  there  was  little  danger  of 
his  being  seen  at  a  distance,  but  he  lay  down  on 
the  ground  and  slowly  crawled  along  in  the  di 
rection  of  the  fire.  As  he  stopped  often,  it  was 
a  half  hour  before  he  came  in  sight  of  it,  and 
then  he  waited  for  the  dusk  before  moving  far 
ther.  Pie  could  now  see  that  it  was  a  campfire 
about  which  were  grouped  a  dozen  Indians,  Iro 
quois  braves.  Their  ceremonious  gestures  and 


220          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

the  pipes  told  him  that  he  was  witnessing  some 
council  deliberation.  There  was  no  sign  of  a 
village  anywhere.  Doubtless,  he  thought,  they 
had  come  to  this  secret  place  to  debate  something 
they  did  not  wish  to  discuss  in  a  general  council. 
He  noticed  that  the  braves  were  all  young;  per 
haps  they  were  afraid  that  the  elders  of  the  tribe 
would  not  approve  of  their  plan. 

When  it  had  grown  dusk  Raoul  once  more 
crept  forward  on  his  stomach  to  within  hearing 
distance.  The  stump  of  a  fallen  tree  hid  him 
completely. 

"It  is  well,"  he  heard  one  voice  say,  "what 
our  brother  Eagle  Wing  has  said.  We,  the  chil 
dren  of  the  Five  Nations,  are  destined  by  the 
Great  Spirit  to  rule  all  the  land.  But  if  we 
will  rule  we  must  not  forget  that  we  cannot  ex 
pect  to  sleep  in  lodges  and  listen  to  the  chatter 
ing  of  squaws.  We  must  spend  our  days  on 
the  warpath." 

"You  speak  wisely,  Brown  Owl,"  a  deeper, 
older  voice  replied,  "yet  even  the  Five  Nations 
of  the  Long  House  have  not  braves  enough  to 
fight  every  western  tribe  and  to  overcome  the 
English  settlers  on  the  seacoast  and  the  French 
who  seek  to  build  forts  along  the  Great  River. 
We  must  use  our  wits  as  well  as  our  arrows  and 
tomahawks,  that  we  may  not  leave  too  many 


THE  GOAL  221 

of  our  warriors  dead  on  the  warpath.  We  must 
make  the  English  and  the  French  fight  and  slay 
each  other;  we  must  side  first  with  the  ones  and 
then  with  the  others,  and  stir  up  strife  contin 
ually  between  them." 

"Waste  we  no  more  time,"  a  third  voice  said 
as  he  finished.  "What  both  of  our  brothers  have 
spoken  is  wisdom,  yet  we  know  wherefore  we 
are  here,  and  what  we  have  in  hand.  I  will  speak 
it.  There  is  the  French  man  who,  more  than 
any  paleface,  is  not  only  a  great  warrior  but  a 
leader  in  council,  who  speaks  such  words  that 
our  enemies,  the  Illinois  and  the  western  tribes 
listen  and  follow  him  as  he  wills.  He  has  tra 
velled  to  the  mouth  of  the  Great  River;  he  has 
built  forts  on  it ;  he  is  settling  a  colony  which  he 
means  to  be  like  the  dam  of  the  beavers  to  hold 
us  back  to  the  eastward  of  it.  Is  he  not  our 
greatest  enemy,  the  one  most  to  be  feared?" 

There  was  a  general  murmur  of  assent  under 
cover  of  which  Raoul  drew  a  couple  of  paces 
nearer,  so  afraid  was  he  that  he  might  lose  some 
thing  of  what  was  being  spoken. 

"Then  why  wait  we  until  the  beaver  builds 
the  dam,"  the  voice  continued;  "have  we  not 
arrows  and  war  clubs  and  has  not  he  a  scalp-lock  ? 
Let  us  kill  him  speedily,  and  the  dam  that  he  has 
begun  will  crumble  into  the  water  and  we  shall 


222 


WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 


pass  westward  and  drive  back  the  craven  tribes 
which  cannot  stand  against  us  save  the  French 
strengthen  their  arms." 

Cries  of  delight  greeted  the  ending  of  this 
speech,  and  Raoul  listened  eagerly,  hoping 
to  hear  the  exact  time  and  place  of  the  deed 
they  planned.  But  the  main  step  decided,  the 
Iroquois  now  broke  up  the  council,  and  when 
they  had  eaten  the  dried  meat  and  the  parched 
corn  they  had  brought  with  them,  they  wrapped 
themselves  in  their  blankets  and  went  to  sleep. 
Then,  Raoul,  stiff  from  the  cold  and  his  cramped 
position,  crawled  cautiously  away  till  he  dared 
get  to  his  feet  and  run  to  a  distance  he  considered 
safe. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  MEDICINE   BAG 

RAOUL  slept  little  that  night.  Many 
plans  he  made  to  offset  the  danger  to  his 
Seigneur,  but  the  trouble  was  that  none  of  them 
could  be  carried  out.  No  matter  though  La  Salle 
were  warned,  though  he  and  Etienne  and  Beaver 
Tail  should  be  always  on  guard  against  an  open 
assault  or  a  secret  assassination,  some  day  or 
some  night  an  Iroquois  arrow  or  tomahawk 
would  find  its  mark.  La  Salle  was  sure  to  scorn 
the  danger  and  would  refuse — he  knew  him  well 
— the  precautions  they  would  urge  him  to  ob 
serve.  As  he  lay  there  in  the  dark  silence,  Raoul 
conceived  a  desperate  idea  of  creeping  back  to 
the  council  and  sticking  his  knife  into  as  many 
of  the  twelve  as  he  could  kill.  But  the  strength 
and  valor  of  even  a  grown  man  could  not  cope 
with  a  dozen  enemies.  If  only,  he  thought,  there 

223 


224          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

were  an  Illinois  village  near  where  he  might  find 
a  party  of  warriors  to  help  him !  But  there  was 
nothing  to  be  done.  The  snow  had  ceased  falling 
and  a  wind  had  sprung  up  which  was  blowing 
the  snow  in  drifts  and  baring  the  ground  in 
spots.  He  made  himself  as  comfortable  as  pos 
sible  on  the  lee  side  of  a  boulder  and  at  last,  after 
praying  the  saints  to  show  him  how  he  might 
help  his  master,  he  fell  asleep. 

When  he  awoke  he  felt  unaccountably  happy, 
as  if  something  pleasant  had  taken  place  in  his 
dreams.  Once  or  twice  in  his  life  he  had  experi 
enced  the  same  strange  feeling  of  vivid  exhilara 
tion,  and  it  had  always  come  before  one  of  his 
strange  moments  of  "vision."  He  sat  up  and 
waited  for  he  know  not  what.  Then,  as  if  some 
one  had  called  him,  he  rose  and  walked  without 
hesitation  in  a  direction  which  led  neither  to 
wards  the  council  fire  nor  towards  Fort  St. 
Louis.  For  half  a  league  he  went  unquestion- 
ingly,  until  on  a  slight  hillock  which  the  brisk 
wind  had  swept  clear,  his  foot  hit  against  some 
thing  soft.  He  leaned  down  and  picked  up  a 
medicine  bag  formed  of  the  whole  skin  of  an 
otter,  the  head  and  tail  still  dangling.  It  was 
old,  so  old  that  the  fur  had  long  since  been 
rubbed  away  from  it  except  in  a  few  small 
patches. 


THE  MEDICINE  BAG  225 

It  was  so  insignificant  a  possession  that  any 
one  but  an  Indian  or  one  who  knew  Indians  as 
Raoul  did,  would  have  thrown  it  away  in  disgust. 
Yet  to  him  it  was  more  precious  than  a  sack  of 
louis  A' or,  and  he  knew  that  it  was  the  anticipa 
tion  of  finding  it  which  had  made  him  so  unac 
countably  happy.  Now  the  strangeness  of  his 
"vision"  had  passed;  he  was  conscious  of  his  sur 
roundings  once  again  and  of  his  need  to  decide 
his  future  steps. 

He  sat  down  for  a  minute  to  think  exactly 
what  the  possession  of  the  medicine  bag  meant 
to  him  and  how  he  could  make  the  best  use  of  it. 
He  had  recognized  it  at  once  as  the  ancient 
medicine  bag  of  the  Senecas  which  had  passed 
into  the  keeping  of  Old  Wolf.  It  was,  he  knew, 
a  sacred  relic,  the  exact  value  of  which  could  be 
understood  only  by  those  who  belong  to  the 
secret  organization  of  which  Old  Wolf  was  the 
head.  But  he  was  aware  that  it  was  highly  ven 
erated  by  all  the  Senecas  and  that  its  magic  fame 
had  spread  among  other  tribes  of  the  Iroquois. 

"It  must  be,"  he  cried  aloud,  "that  Old  Wolf 
passed  by  here  a  short  time  ago  and  lost  it.  Or 
perhaps  he  came  back  to  look  for  it  and  the 
snow  had  covered  it  up.  Praise  God  for  the 
wind  last  night !  And  if  Old  Wolf  came  by  here, 
was  Denise  with  him  too?" 


226          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

He  would  have  liked  to  ponder  more  on  this, 
but  he  felt  need  to  keep  his  thoughts  on  how  he 
could  make  use  of  his  discovery  to  save  La  Salle. 
"Suppose,"  he  thought  as  he  began  to  form  his 
plan,  "I  am  mistaken  and  this  is  not  Old  Wolf's 
medicine  bag  after  all?" 

His  hand  explored  the  depths  of  the  pouch 
and  brought  out  several  strange  objects,  bones, 
hairs,  and  then  a  bit  of  dirt-colored  fabric  which 
might  once  have  been  silk.  He  recalled  a  little 
red  silk  bow  of  which  Denise  had  been  so  proud, 
the  only  bit  of  ribbon  she  possessed.  Could  it 
be,  he  thrilled  at  the  thought,  that  this  was  it? 

It  was  not  possible  to  be  absolutely  certain 
that  this  was  the  medicine  bag  he  had  often  seen 
in  Old  Wolf's  hands,  though  he  had  slight  doubt 
that  it  was;  nor  could  he  be  sure  that  the  plan 
his  mind  was  revolving  would  succeed.  If  he 
were  wrong  in  his  guess,  if  he  were  unsuccessful 
in  carrying  out  his  plan,  then  he  must  pay  for 
his  mistake  with  his  life,  and  La  Salle  too  would 
probably  soon  fall  a  victim  to  Iroquois  hate  and 
cunning.  Yet  he  must  try;  there  was  nothing 
else  to  do. 

Now  he  started  to  run  until  he  once  again 
came  in  sight  of  the  camp  of  the  night  before; 
then  he  rested  to  get  his  breath,  that  he  might 
not  appear  to  have  hastened.  He  could  see  that 


THE  MEDICINE  BAG  227 

the  braves  were  about  to  leave;  already  they 
were  covering  the  ashes  of  their  fire  with  snow. 
This  time  Raoul  approached  without  any  at 
tempt  at  concealment,  holding  his  hand  before 
him  as  one  who  came  on  a  peaceful  mission.  Al 
ready  the  warriors  had  seen  him  and  cried  out 
to  know  who  he  was.  Raoul  answered  in  the 
Seneca  tongue,  saying  that  he  was  a  friend  and 
had  a  message  for  them. 

In  spite  of  his  peaceful  aspect,  the  braves  did 
not  lay  aside  their  suspicion  of  a  ruse.  Because 
they  could  see  that  he  was  French,  and  because 
they  were  conscious  that  they  were  plotting 
against  a  Frenchman,  it  seemed  to  them  for  a 
moment  that  their  plans  might  have  been  dis 
covered.  Raoul,  for  his  part,  realized  that  his 
every  movement,  his  every  word,  must  pass  a 
test  that  might  prove  fatal. 

"Who  are  you  and  wherefore  do  you,  a  French 
boy,  wander  here  in  the  forest?"  asked  one  of 
the  Iroquois  when  they  had  seated  themselves 
gravely,  Raoul  taking  boldly  the  place  due  to  a 
messenger  with  tidings  of  importance. 

"I  am  the  bearer  of  this  medicine  bag,"  he 
explained,  "which  is  honoured  in  the  wigwams 
of  the  Senecas  and  revered  by  all  the  Five  Na 
tions." 

The  Indians  started  and  gazed  at  the  boy,  but 


228          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

did  not  attempt  to  take  the  bag  out  of  his  hands. 
He  had  discovered  that  they  were  not  Senecas 
themselves,  but  Mohawks  and  Onondaguas.  All 
the  better,  he  thought,  for  his  purpose.  "Great 
is  the  medicine  of  him  who  owns  it,"  he  con 
tinued;  "his  wisdom  and  his  knowledge  of  what 
the  spirits  ordain  is  recognized  in  all  the  villages 
of  the  Long  House." 

"Do  you  speak  of  Old  Wolf?"  asked  one  of 
the  warriors,  "and  if  so,  wherefore  do  you,  one 
of  the  palefaces,  bear  his  medicine  bag?" 

"What  other  chief  has  a  name  like  his?"  ques 
tioned  Raoul  in  return.  "I  who  have  dwelt  in 
his  lodge  and  travelled  with  him  through  the 
forest  know  that  he  has  never  yet  let  his  medicine 
bag  pass  into  the  hands  of  another,  so  intimately 
is  its  medicine  bound  up  with  his  spirit.  There 
fore,  if  now  I  who  come  before  you  hold  it  in  my 
hands,  are  not  my  words  to  be  hearkened  to?" 

"Old  Wolf  is  very  wise,"  assented  one  of  the 
Mohawks,  then  laughed  scornfully.  "But  even 
his  wisdom  cannot  tell  wherefore  we  are  holding 
this  council  in  this  forest." 

"Listen,"  said  Raoul,  speaking  slowly  and 
impressively:  "Mohawks  and  Onondaguas  are 
not  painted  with  war  paint,  therefore  they  are 
not  setting  forth  on  the  warpath.  That  much 
any  dweller  of  Quebec  could  tell ;  but  only  those 


THE  MEDICINE  BAG  229 

who  are  wise  can  read  your  hearts  and  know  that 
there  is  one,  a  Frenchman,  whose  death  you  have 
sworn,  by  tomahawk  or  arrow." 

The  result  of  these  words  was  astounding. 
Not  even  the  Indian  features  trained  to  repress 
emotion  could  help  showing  their  amazement. 
The  boy's  knowledge  was  to  them  something 
so  miraculous  that  they  did  not  even  seek  to 
deny  his  accusation.  At  last  an  Onondagua 
spoke : 

"Old  Wolf  is  a  wise  chief,  indeed,  and  sees 
far.  What  words  of  advice  has  he  then  for  us?" 

Raoul's  heart  beat  rapidly  at  his  success  so 
far.  'Now  came  the  hardest  part. 

"Old  Wolf's  medicine  is  a  strong  medicine," 
he  assented,  "and  all  the  tribes  envy  the  Senecas 
their  great  chief  and  his  ancient  medicine  bag. 
Listen  then  to  this  wisdom :  It  is  a  well-thought 
plan  you  have  made,  and  truly  the  death  of  the 
French  chief  would  put  an  end  to  the  hopes  of 
the  Illinois,  your  foes.  Yet  the  plan  must  be 
carried  out  with  care,  says  the  medicine,  for  the 
Frenchman's  medicine  also  is  very  strong." 

"He  speaks  truly,"  exclaimed  one  of  the 
braves.  "Few  men  could  have  lived  through  all 
the  French  chief  has  suffered." 

Raoul  hastened  to  continue,  afraid  that  some 
thing  might  break  the  spell:  "If  you  seek  to 


230    WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

slay  him  in  the  winter  your  arrow  or  your  toma 
hawk  will  grow  cold  while  his  medicine  grows 
hot  and  cannot  harm  him.  If  you  seek  to  slay 
him  in  the  spring  moon  your  weapons  will  have 
only  the  strength  of  a  hazel  branch  when  it  first 
greens;  if  you  strike  in  the  summer  his  medicine 
will  blind  you  like  the  sun.  It  is  only  in  the 
time  when  the  leaves  fall  that  his  medicine  leaves 
him  bare  as  the  trees  are  bare,  and  defenseless." 

It  did  not  seem  possible  to  the  boy  that  these 
silly  words  could  convince  these  men  thirsty  for 
the  blood  of  his  beloved  Seigneur.  He  had  said 
"autumn"  because  long  before  that  time  he 
believed  that  La  Salle  would  be  on  his  way  to 
France.  To  his  relief,  he  saw  that  the  Indians 
were  impressed  by  what  he  had  spoken;  to  them 
it  seemed  quite  natural  that  so  great  a  white 
chief  should  be  all  but  invulnerable.  They  had 
no  doubt  that  what  he  suggested  might  be  the 
wisdom  which  would  lead  them  to  success,  but 
Raoul  was  quick  to  feel  that  they  were  suspicious 
of  him  as  the  messenger  of  this  wisdom.  His 
heart  beat  and  he  wondered  how  he  could  con 
vince  them. 

"The  words  sound  indeed  like  words  of  good 
medicine,  but  why  should  our  Seneca  brother 
choose  a  white  boy  to  carry  them  to  us?  Is 


THE  MEDICINE  BAG  231 

there  no  young  Seneca,  brave,  or  even  lad,  who 
could  be  his  messenger?" 

"How  know  we  even  if  in  truth  this  medicine 
bag  be  the  medicine  bag  of  which  our  fathers 
have  told  us?  Not  one  of  us  ever  beheld  it 
before." 

"How  know  we  that  he  is  not  a  spy?"  cried 
another  excitedly,  jumping  up  and  peering  so 
savagely  into  Raoul's  face  that  it  took  all  his 
self-control  not  to  shrink  back. 

"If  he  is  French  what  does  he  in  the  secrets 
of  the  Five  Nations?"  cried  another. 

Their  suspicions  increased  with  each  moment 
that  Raoul  did  not  reply.  He  could  think  of 
nothing  to  say  or  of  any  way  by  which  he 
might  prove  that  the  medicine  bag  did  in  truth 
belong  to  Old  Wolf.  Yet  he  knew  that  if  some 
thing  did  not  happen  within  the  next  few 
minutes  in  his  favor  the  Indians  would  kill  him 
for  a  spy.  But  even  this  knowledge  did  not 
help  him  to  act.  It  seemed  to  him  that  he  had 
counted  twelve  braves  in  the  council  the  night 
before,  yet  now  there  were  only  eleven.  Then, 
between  the  dancing,  screaming  figures  before 
him  he  caught  sight  of  the  missing  warrior  who 
was  coming  towards  him.  Several  ducks  swung 
across  his  shoulder  showed  that  he  had  been 
chosen  as  the  purveyor  of  the  food  for  the  coun- 


232          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

cil's  journey.  Raoul  was  glad  of  any  interrup 
tion,  though  there  was  little  chance  that  it  would 
better  the  situation  for  him.  The  Indians 
quickly  explained  to  him  Raoul's  message  and 
their  suspicions,  and  pointed  out  the  medicine 
bag  the  boy  still  held. 

Spotted  Deer  listened  gravely,  and  his  expres 
sion  quieted  the  others.  He  advanced  towards 
Raoul,  laid  a  reverent  hand  on  the  bag,  and 
turned  it  slowly  over  and  over. 

"He  speaks  true  words,"  he  said  at  last. 
This  is  indeed  the  ancient  medicine  bag  of  Old 
Wolf,  venerated  by  all  the  dwellers  of  the  Long 
House.  But  it  may  be,  as  my  brothers  say,  that 
this  white  boy  has  stolen  it.  I,  who  know  the 
great  chief,  will  ask  him  some  questions." 

Raoul  breathed  more  freely  that  another 
chance  had  been  given  him.  He  waited  anxiously 
until  Spotted  Deer  asked: 

"If  indeed  you  know  the  lodge  of  Old  Wolf, 
by  what  name  is  his  squaw  called?" 

"She  is  Sun  Cloud,"  replied  Raoul. 

"And  what  name  is  the  one  by  which  his 
nearest  kin  is  known?" 

"Red  Wing."  The  very  name  brought  back 
memories  of  the  long  journey  through  the  forest 
and  down  the  river  and  the  thrashing  the  young 
brave  bestowed  on  him  when  he  and  Denise  tried 


THE  MEDICINE  BAG  253 

to  escape.  He  could  see  that  his  answers  were 
turning  the  tide  in  his  favor. 

"Yet  there  is  one  in  his  lodge  whom  Old  Wolf 
regards  even  more  than  squaw  or  Red  Wing," 
continued  Spotted  Deer.  "If  you  know  his 
lodge  tell  me  who  that  is?" 

The  boy's  mind  jumped  to  the  conclusion — 
this  could  be  no  other  than  Denise,  who  must 
have  become  in  truth  the  adopted  and  beloved 
child  of  the  Seneca. 

"It  is  a  maiden  whose  face  is  as  white  as 
mine,"  he  answered,  "who  with  me  was  taken 
to  Old  Wolf's  lodge." 

"He  has  stood  the  test,"  said  Spotted  Deer, 
turning  to  his  companions.  "I  had  heard  that 
the  chief  had  taken  both  a  French  boy  and  girl 
to  be  adopted  and  brought  up  in  the  tribe.  You 
have  listened  to  the  stories  told  of  her  wisdom 
and  medicine,  young  as  she  is ;  but  little  has  been 
heard  of  the  boy.  Yet  we  may  not  doubt  now 
that  Old  Wolf  has  chosen  him  wisely  for  his 
messenger." 

Raoul  felt  a  weight  fall  from  him,  and  turned 
slowly  to  listen  to  the  next  speaker. 

"We  have  hearkened  to  our  brother  and  we 
thank  him  for  showing  us  that  our  hearts  were 
fearful  for  nothing.  Let  us  feast  this  mes 
senger,  the  bearer  of  the  sacred  trophy,  and  then 


234         WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

send  him  back  to  Old  Wolf  with  the  word  that 
we  will  do  as  his  medicine  points  out.  When  the 
autumn  comes  we  will  slay  the  French  chief, 
that  he  may  no  longer  protect  our  enemies." 

Though  Raoul  longed  to  get  away  at  once, 
he  sat  down  quietly  while  the  ducks  were  being 
cooked,  and  listened  to  the  stories  the  braves  told 
of  the  many  times  when  Old  Wolf's  medicine  had 
helped  the  Iroquois.  He  learned  at  last  the 
reason  of  the  sudden  departure  of  the  Senecas 
that  day  from  their  village  on  Lake  Erie.  It 
was  because,  in  a  general  council  of  all  the 
Iroquois,  it  had  been  decided  that  some  of  them 
must  take  up  their  position  farther  west  to  hold 
the  Illinois  in  check.  So  the  Senecas,  and  in 
particular  Old  Wolf,  had  been  chosen  to  hold 
this  outpost  position.  Raoul  discovered  that 
Denise  had  not  been  so  far  away  from  him  lately 
as  he  had  believed. 

When  the  feast  was  over  he  rose  and  bade 
his  hosts  farewell. 

"Where  now  is  Old  Wolf?"  asked  Spotted 
Deer. 

"He  desires  that  to  be  kept  a  secret  for  the 
present,"  answered  Raoul,  trusting  that  this 
would  satisfy  them.  Luckily  it  did,  and  they 
allowed  him  to  depart  unmolested.  Once  again 
he  was  eager  to  set  off  to  search  for  Denise, 


THE  MEDICINE  BAG 


235 


but  he  knew  that  his  duty  to  La  Salle  required 
him  to  hasten  to  him.  He  could  only  pray  that 
the  Indians  whom  he  had  fooled  would  not 
discover  the  deception  until  the  Seigneur  had 
left  for  France,  but  he  must  not  tarry  with 
his  warning. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
THE  FOREST  LODGE 

T  A  SALLE  laughed  at  RaouFs  fears  when 
•*— •  he  returned  to  the  fort  and  laughed  still 
more  when  he  and  Tonty  had  listened  to  the 
whole  story  the  boy  related.  They  examined 
the  medicine  bag  curiously  and  advised  Raoul 
to  guard  it  carefully,  because  some  day  Old 
Wolf  might  be  willing  to  pay  highly  for  its 
return,  in  pelts  or  by  the  exchange  of  some 
French  or  Illinois  prisoners. 

But  Etienne  and  Swift  Fox  did  not  laugh  at 
the  possibility  of  an  attempt  on  the  Seigneur's 
life.  "If  your  Onondaguas  and  Mohawks  do 
not  catch  up  with  Old  Wolf  and  find  out  the 
truth,  you  have  done  a  good  day's  work,"  re 
marked  Etienne  while  the  three  were  descending 
to  the  river  to  catch  fish. 

Swift  Fox  did  not  quite  know  what  he  ought 
to  think  of  RaouFs  strange  use  of  the  venerated 

236 


THE  FOREST  LODGE  237 

medicine  bag,  but  he  too  agreed  that  as  long 
as  the  Iroquois  believed  the  message  genuine 
they  would  obey  it. 

"But  we  must  guard  the  great  chief,"  he  said, 
"so  that  if  they  should  come  they  may  never 
get  near  enough  to  harm  him." 

"We  will  be  his  bodyguard,"  suggested  Raoul, 
much  pleased  at  the  idea.  "Let  us  arrange  that 
one  of  us  is  always  near  him  though  we  must 
not  let  him  see  that  we  are  watching  him.  We 
can  take  turns." 

"Not  a  bad  plan  that,"  commented  Etienne. 
"The  devils  know  well  enough  that  they  could 
scatter  the  rest  of  us  easily  if  once  they  suc 
ceeded  in  killing  the  Seigneur." 

So  from  then  on  the  three  guarded  La  Salle, 
unaware  of  their  vigilance.  There  were  rumors 
of  threatened  attacks  by  the  Iroquois,  but  noth 
ing  came  of  them.  Early  in  the  autumn  La 
Salle,  feeling  he  could  wait  no  longer,  decided 
he  must  soon  start  off  on  his  way  to  Quebec 
to  set  sail  for  France. 

Swift  Fox's  mother,  together  with  many 
others  of  the  Hurons,  had  come  south  to  form 
part  of  the  new  colony.  Though  Swift  Fox 
lived  at  the  fort,  he  was  often  among  his  people. 

"I  will  leave  now  for  many  days,  White 
Thrush,"  he  said  one  morning. 


238    WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

"Where  do  you  go  then,  Swift  Fox?"  Raoul 
asked. 

"My  people  say  I  am  old  enough  now  to 
become  a  brave.  I  go  first  to  fast  and  to  listen 
to  the  Great  Spirit,"  the  Indian  youth  replied. 

Raoul  had  often  heard  of  the  tests  to  which 
the  young  Indians  were  subjected  before  they 
were  admitted  to  the  ranks  of  the  warriors.  He 
was  eager  to  know  more  about  it  all,  and  begged 
Swift  Fox  to  tell  him  the  customs  of  his  tribe. 

"I  wish  I  might  be  made  a  brave  too,"  the 
French  boy  remarked  wistfully,  his  thoughts 
turning  to  the  little  chapel  in  the  old  castle  in 
Brittany  where  so  many  of  his  ancestors  had 
watched  their  armor  the  night  before  they  were 
made  knights.  He  had  learned  so  much,  done 
so  much,  since  he  came  to  Canada  that  he  felt 
as  if  he  needed  to  mark  the  entrance  into  the 
coming  estate  of  manhood. 

"Why  should  not  White  Thrush  become  a 
Huron  brave  also?"  suggested  Swift  Fox  with 
sudden  enthusiasm.  "The  warriors  of  our  tribe 
would  gladly  welcome  him  as  one  of  them." 

"Why  should  I  not?"  cried  Raoul  aloud  in 
French.  "Would  not  the  Seigneur  say  that  this 
would  be  another  bond  between  his  Indian  allies 
and  ourselves?" 

Bidding    Swift   Fox   delay  his   departure   a 


THE  FOREST  LODGE  239 

little,  he  rushed  into  the  storeroom  where  Tonty 
was  superintending  the  stacking  of  ammunition 
and  food  supplies,  and  asked  his  opinion. 

"I  see  no  harm,"  answered  the  Italian  after  a 
moment's  consideration.  "You  would  be  no  less 
a  loyal  subject  of  King  Louis's  for  being  an 
Indian  brave,  and  I  think  it  would  give  you  an 
added  influence  with  our  allies.  But  remember, 
it  is  a  severe  test,  they  say,  and  it  would  not  do 
to  undertake  it  and  then  fail  and  bring  disgrace 
on  yourself  and  on  us." 

La  Salle,  when  he  was  told  of  the  plan,  was 
of  the  same  view:  Raoul  might  undertake  the 
test  provided  he  felt  that  he  was  equal  to  it. 
Raoul  thanked  him  for  his  permission  and  took 
leave.  He  and  Swift  Fox  clambered  down  the 
rock  at  its  steepest  slope  and  set  out  for  the 
village  of  the  Hurons,  a  day's  journey  away. 
When  they  reached  it  both  lads  were  given  a 
warm  welcome,  Raoul  being  well  known  and 
well  liked  in  the  tribe.  He  played  with  the  dogs 
while  Swift  Fox  put  the  question  to  the  chief. 

"It  is  well,"  nodded  the  older  man.  "White 
Thrush  has  already  proved  himself  a  hunter  and 
a  fighter.  Our  people  will  be  proud  to  claim 
him.  Let  him  fast  when  you  fast ;  let  him  listen 
for  the  voice  of  the  Great  Spirit.  It  will  speak 
to  white  ears  as  well  as  to  red  ears." 


240          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

An  uncle  of  Swift  Fox,  Little  Lightning, 
went  with  the  boys  into  the  forest  and  helped 
them  to  build  the  two  lodges  near  enough  so 
that  they  could  see  each  other,  but  too  far  apart 
for  them  to  talk.  Then  he  led  them  back  to  the 
village  to  the  sweating-lodge,  where  the  Indians 
went  for  the  hot  baths  which  served  both 
medicinal  and  ceremonial  purposes.  A  huge 
fire  had  heated  the  big  stones  within,  and  water 
poured  on  them  sent  up  clouds  of  steam  which 
almost  stifled  Raoul. 

The  brave  explained:  "The  youth  who  would 
prove  himself  ready  to  become  a  warrior  must 
show  that  he  can  stand  many  things,  heat  and 
cold,  hunger  and  thirst." 

Raoul  determined  to  ask  no  questions,  but 
to  do  whatever  Swift  Fox  did.  He  threw  aside 
his  clothes  when  Swift  Fox  did  and  climbed  after 
him  up  to  a  kind  of  shelf  and  sat  there  in  silence 
until  it  seemed  to  him  that  hell  itself  could  be 
no  hotter.  When  Swift  Fox  jumped  down  at 
last  he  did  the  same  and  ran  after  him  to  the 
river  and  plunged  into  the  icy  water.  The  cold 
made  him  gasp  for  breath.  Back  to  the  sweating- 
lodge  they  ran,  and  this  time  Raoul  was  glad 
of  the  heat  for  a  few  moments.  Again  they 
rushed  out  to  the  shock  of  the  river,  and  three 
times  they  alternated  the  cold  and  the  heat. 


THE  FOREST  LODGE  241 

Little  Lightning,  sitting  before  the  lodge  of 
Swift  Fox's  mother,  watched  them  and  seemed 
satisfied.  He  strolled  up  to  them  and  when  they 
had  clothed  themselves,  still  keeping  the  com 
plete  silence,  left  the  sweating-lodge  behind  and 
escorted  them  to  tjie  lodges  in  the  forest,  far 
away  from  any  sound  of  the  village. 

"Lie  here,  Swift  Fox,"  he  said,  "and  may 
your  manitou  appear  soon  to  you.  Forget  not 
that  the  manitous  of  your  family  will  help  you 
in  your  fast." 

Then  when  Swift  Fox  had  lain  down  upon 
the  mats  his  mother  had  woven  especially  for 
this  great  occasion,  Little  Lightning  went  back  to 
the  waiting  Raoul. 

"Lie  here,  White  Thrush,"  he  bade.  "May 
the  Great  Manitou  send  you  a  vision." 

Raoul  too  obediently  lay  down,  and  in  a  mo 
ment  Little  Lightning  had  departed  and  there 
was  nothing  to  break  the  deep  silence  of  the 
forest.  It  was  probably  the  effect  of  his  baths 
that  made  Raoul,  who  had  intended  to  stay  awake 
and  to  try  to  bring  his  thoughts  into  the  channel 
into  which  he  wished  to  direct  them,  soon  fall 
asleep. 

It  was  dawn  when  he  awoke.  The  birds  were 
twittering,  the  sun  was  throwing  a  first  ray 
through  the  oak  trees,  lighting  up  the  globes 


242          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

of  the  acorns  nearly  ripe  enough  to  fall.  Raoul 
jumped  to  his  feet  and  ran  a  few  paces  to  limber 
his  cramped  legs.  He  wondered  if  Swift  Fox 
were  awake  and  whether  he  had  fallen  asleep 
as  early  the  evening  before  as  he  had  done.  He 
looked  across  to  the  other  lodge,  so  far  away 
that  he  could  just  see  the  form  of  his  friend 
dimly.  He  knew  that  he  must  neither  go  to 
him  nor  call  out.  Only  in  silence  and  loneliness 
could  the  test  be  sustained.  After  a  few  minutes 
he  returned  to  his  lodge  and  lay  down  on  the 
mat  again.  There  was  plenty  of  time  for  think 
ing,  so  he  let  his  thoughts  wander  where  they 
would.  First  they  went  to  Fort  St.  Louis,  to 
Tonty  and  Etienne,  even  to  the  little  puppy 
he  had  made  a  playmate  of.  Then  they  jour 
neyed  to  France,  skimming  the  three  thousand 
miles  in  a  moment.  They  wandered  about  the 
old  chateau,  the  rocky  coast  of  his  boyhood,  and 
then  to  the  royal  gardens  at  Versailles.  He  had 
a  clear  picture  in  his  mind  of  the  King  as  he 
had  first  seen  him  when  he  stepped  majestically 
from  his  barge  and  of  the  little  black-gowned 
lad  trembling  because  his  hand  had  thrown  the 
stone  that  grazed  the  royal  person. 

"Was  that  little  priestling  indeed  the  same  as 
this  youth  lying  in  an  Indian  lodge?"  he  asked 
himself,  and  he  followed  the  black  gown  from 


THE  FOREST  LODGE  243 

Versailles  back  to  the  gray  corridors  of  his 
school,  across  the  ocean,  to  the  seminary  window 
at  Quebec,  where  its  owner  gazed  longingly  out 
at  the  busy  life  below  from  which  he  was 
removed.  He  saw  it  again  in  the  Dubois  farm 
before  the  fire;  then  a  second  figure,  that  of  a 
dark-eyed,  red-cheeked  girl  joined  it.  Then 
followed  pictures  of  a  canoe  journeying  swiftly 
along  a  great  river.  He  saw  the  frozen  lake 
where  a  French  boy  in  Indian  shirt  and  leggings 
brought  food  to  the  great  La  Salle.  Until  then 
his  thoughts  had  traveled  in  order  along  one 
main  road;  now  they  began  to  run  this  way  and 
that,  oblivious  of  any  trail,  from  Lake  Ontario 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  from  icy  plains  to  sun 
burnt  sands  and  misty  marshes.  But  always, 
wherever  they  went,  they  obeyed  three  calls :  one 
the  call  of  loyalty  to  a  leader,  one  the  call  of 
the  freedom  of  the  wilderness,  and  one  the  call 
of  chivalry,  the  need  to  rescue  a  woman  child 
from  bondage. 

It  seemed  to  him  that  it  must  have  been  hours 
since  he  had  been  reliving  the  past,  yet  the  sun 
was  still  only  a  quarter  above  the  horizon.  Little 
creatures  of  the  forest  were  scampering  about, 
rabbits,  squirrels,  muskrats,  birds.  He  thought 
of  his  bow  and  arrow  and  how  easy  it  would 
be  to  shoot  enough  for  a  feast.  But  he  put  away 


WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

from  him  the  thought  of  food.  He  was  not 
really  hungry.  He  remembered  now  why  he 
was  lying  there — not  only  to  prove  that  he  had 
the  endurance  of  a  man,  but,  as  the  Indians 
believed,  that  a  spirit,  some  manitou  as  they 
called  it,  should  reveal  itself  to  him  and  in  some 
way  become  a  symbol  of  help  for  his  future  life, 
the  life  of  a  man  into  which  he  was  now  entering. 
He  had  lived  too  much  among  the  Indians  to 
find  this  strange.  He  knew  that  they  believed 
in  a  Great  Manitou,  a  great  spirit  above  the 
earth,  and  also  that  every  human  being  had  his 
own  special  manitou  which  would  aid  him  during 
life.  Nor  did  he  find  it  hard  to  understand  that 
these  manitous  appeared  to  them  in  visions  in 
the  forms  of  animals,  for  his  long  days  trapping 
in  the  forest  with  Black  Duck  had  shown  him 
how  close  the  Indians  seemed  to  their  brethren, 
the  beasts.  Had  he  not  even  heard  Black  Duck 
beseech  the  bear  he  was  about  to  kill  to  allow 
himself  to  be  slain? 

He  did  not  know  just  what  he  expected,  but 
he  recalled  what  he  had  been  told  at  home  in 
Brittany  of  the  vigils  and  prayers,  and  bathing 
and  fasts  a  young  Christian  warrior  once  had  to 
undergo  before  he  could  be  made  a  knight ;  and 
it  pleased  him  to  think  that  what  he  was  now 
enduring  was  not  so  different  from  the  tests 


THE  FOREST  LODGE  245 

of  his  ancestors.  The  forest  was  as  silent  as  a 
chapel,  and  prayers  of  praise  and  thanksgiving 
and  petitions  for  guidance  welled  up  within  him. 
Night  fell  before  he  had  risen  from  his  knees. 

The  next  morning  a  sharp  craving  for  food 
awoke  him;  his  healthy  young  appetite  was 
clamoring.  He  rose  and  walked  about  for  a 
while,  endeavoring  to  forget  what  every  squirrel 
and  bird  reminded  him  of.  He  wondered  if 
Swift  Fox  experienced  the  same  gnawing.  All 
day  long  as  he  lay  on  his  mat  looking  up  into 
the  brilliant  October  sky,  a  red  leaf  occasionally 
falling  at  his  feet,  he  tried  to  keep  his  thoughts 
away  from  food,  but  in  vain.  He  would  have 
welcomed  even  a  piece  of  tough  alligator  flesh. 

That  night  his  sleep  was  restless  and  broken, 
and  the  next  morning  he  felt  faint  and  dizzy. 
How  much  longer,  he  wondered,  could  he  hold 
out?  By  this  time  surely  Swift  Fox  had  had 
his  vision,  even  if  none  had  come  to  him;  then 
they  would  have  proved  their  endurance.  Once 
or  twice  he  had  seen  Swift  Fox  walking  about, 
but  there  was  no  sign  to  testify  that  his  manitou 
had  appeared  to  him.  That  day  and  night  his 
suffering  was  intense.  With  dawn  came  Little 
Lightning  bringing  food  in  gourds.  The  smell 
of  it  brought  tears  into  RaouFs  eyes. 

"Will  you  eat,  White  Thrush?"  asked  the 


246          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

brave.  "Four  days  and  nights  you  have  fasted 
now." 

"Will  Swift  Fox  eat?"  questioned  Raoul. 

"I  will  see,"  replied  Little  Lightning,  going 
across  to  the  other  lodge.  Raoul  awaited  his 
return  eagerly.  When  he  came  he  said:  "Swift 
Fox  has  not  yet  seen  his  manitou.  He  will  not 
yet  break  his  fast.  But  it  may  be  that  an  Indian 
has  more  endurance  than  a  Frenchman.  I  will 
leave  this  broth  outside  your  lodge  and  you  may 
eat  when  you  will." 

When  he  was  alone  again  Raoul  was  tempted. 
Perhaps  it  was  the  truth  that  Indian  stomachs 
were  different  from  those  of  the  French;  perhaps 
Swift  Fox's  sufferings  were  not  equal  to  his 
own.  Why  should  he  abide  by  a  custom  of 
savages?  If  he  died  from  starvation  was  he  not 
thus  deserting  the  Seigneur  when  he  needed 
him?  All  these  and  other  reasons  for  eating 
seemed  right,  but  he  only  shook  his  head.  Better 
to  die  than  to  fail.  Yet  all  day  long  the  inner 
struggle  continued.  He  prayed  to  God  and  the 
saints  for  courage  to  endure.  Much  of  the  time 
now  he  was  lightheaded  and  did  not  know  where 
he  was.  A  cold  rain  was  falling  and  he  opened 
his  mouth  unconsciously  that  the  drops  might 
fall  on  his  tongue. 

When  he  awoke  again  it  seemed  to  him  that 


THE  FOREST  LODGE  247 

he  was  in  the  great  hall  of  his  father's  castle  on 
the  Breton  coast.  In  the  colored  panes  of  glass 
in  the  windows  which  looked  out  on  the  stormy 
waters  he  saw  again  the  Greyhound  that  sur 
mounted  the  de  Larnac  coat-of-arms.  He  was 
alone  in  the  hall  and  he  looked  at  the  huge  stone 
fireplace  on  the  smoke-stained  hood  of  which 
was  carved  the  Greyhound  and  on  the  back  of 
the  oaken  settle  by  its  side.  Suddenly  the  scene 
changed — he  was  once  again  in  the  forest.  There 
in  the  distance  he  saw  something  coming  through 
the  trees,  something  huge  and  gray  and  swift. 
Its  head  was  so  high  that  it  touched  the  tree  tops, 
but  Raoul  could  see  the  soft  brown  eyes.  He 
was  not  afraid,  for  he  knew  their  owner.  It  was 
the  Greyhound.  It  stopped  quickly  before  the 
lodge,  its  lithe  beautiful  flanks  heaving  gently 
from  its  coursing,  and  it  spoke  in  a  voice  that 
was  as  familiar  to  Raoul  as  if  he  had  always 
heard  it: 

"Son  of  the  Greyhounds,  you  are  worthy  of 
your  race.  They  have  endured,  have  sped 
swiftly  to  their  ends,  have  been  true.  Fear  not 
that  you  will  disgrace  them." 

Raoul  longed  to  reply,  but  he  could  find  no 
words.  Only  a  feeling  of  intense  happiness  came 
over  him.  He  kept  looking  up  into  the  soft 


248          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

eyes  of  the  Greyhound,  which  seemed  so  like 
those  of  his  father. 

On  the  morning  of  the  sixth  day  Little  Light 
ning,  a  gourd  of  food  in  each  hand,  found  the 
two  lads  unconscious  in  their  lodges.  He  roused 
Swift  Fox  by  bathing  his  face  and  asked :  "Will 
you  not  eat,  for  you  have  fasted  long  enough?" 

Swift  Fox  opened  his  eyes  and  said  in  a 
weak  voice:  "I  have  seen  my  manitou.  The 
Bear  appeared  and  said  to  me  that  my  strength 
should  be  as  great  as  his  and  that  my  medicine 
should  be  great.  I  would  eat  now  if  White 
Thrush  too  will  eat." 

Little  Lightning  now  aroused  Raoul. 

"I  have  seen  the  manitou  of  my  ancestors," 
the  French  boy  replied  to  his  question.  "He 
came  as  a  Greyhound,  a  dog  such  as  you  know 
not,  swift  and  faithful." 

"That  is  well,"  said  the  warrior  approvingly. 
"Eat,  for  Swift  Fox  too  breaks  his  fast." 

Hearing  this,  Raoul  let  himself  be  fed  and 
Swift  Fox  finished  too  his  share.  When  they 
were  stronger  Little  Lightning  led  them  back 
slowly  to  the  village.  The  news  of  their  long 
fast  brought  all  the  braves,  squaws  and  children 
out  to  greet  them.  They  cried  out  words  of 
praise  for  the  young  braves'  endurance,  and 
when  they  had  learned  of  the  visions,  they 


THE  FOREST  LODGE 

bestowed  on  the  two  their  new  names,  Strong 
Bear  and  True  Dog.  The  chief  presented  them 
with  three-pointed  blankets,  which  only  braves 
had  the  right  to  wear. 

"Now,"  he  said,  "you  must  set  out  on  the  war 
path  as  soon  as  possible  and  win  your  eagle 
feathers." 

The  next  day  a  great  feast  was  prepared  for 
them,  but  Swift  Fox,  or  Strong  Bear,  could 
not  eat  the  bear  steaks,  as  never  as  long  as  he 
lived  might  he  feed  on  the  flesh  of  the  animal 
which  was  his  manitou.  And  Raoul  was  glad 
to  have  the  same  excuse  for  refusing  dog  flesh. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

KING  LOUIS  REMEMBERS 

WHEN  Raoul  returned  to  the  fort  all 
gathered  about  him  to  listen  to  the 
account  of  his  initiation  as  a  brave.  But  to  no 
one,  not  even  to  La  Salle,  did  he  speak  of  his 
dream,  or  vision,  of  the  Greyhound.  They  would 
laugh  at  it,  he  felt  sure,  while  to  him  it  seemed 
like  some  strangely  sweet  and  intimate  fairy  tale 
such  as  his  mother  had  been  wont  to  relate  to 
him  before  the  great  hearth  on  winter  evenings; 
and  he  could  not  bear  to  hear  it  ridiculed. 

When  he  had  finished  talking  and  had 
shown  the  blanket  given  to  him  as  a  symbol  that 
he  had  become  a  brave,  La  Salle  told  him  that 
the  time  had  come  for  them  to  sail  for  France. 
Tonty  bade  them  farewell,  and  Swift  Fox  prom 
ised  that  as  soon  as  he  returned  from  the  war 
trail  against  the  Iroquois  he  would  stay  at  the 

250 


KING  LOUIS  REMEMBERS  251 

fort  and  serve  Tonty  during  the  absence  of  the 
Seigneur. 

It  was  with  a  thrill  that  Raoul  saw  once  again 
the  canoes  made  ready  for  the  journey. 

"How  can  men  be  content  to  live  always  in 
the  same  place?"  he  exclaimed  to  La  Salle  as, 
with  paddle  in  hand,  he  put  his  full  strength 
into  propelling  the  boat  through  the  leagues  of 
water  that  stretched  beyond  them.  "I  should 
die  as  a  trapped  beast  dies  if  I  were  shut  up 
always  in  a  house  or  a  town." 

"Yet  who  knows,"  replied  La  Salle,  "if  you 
may  not  change  your  mind  when  we  reach  Paris, 
and  decide  to  abide  there,  leaving  me  to  return 
to  the  wilderness  alone." 

But  it  did  not  need  Raoul's  scornful  laughter 
to  reassure  him. 

They  had  traveled  many  days,  omitting  no 
precautions.  There  were  many  cuts  and  por 
tages  known  to  Beaver  Tail  that  were  shorter 
than  the  regular  trail,  and  often  he  piloted  them 
by  shallow  streams  or  over  rapids  where  no 
inexperienced  traveler  had  ever  dared  venture. 
The  forests  were  brilliant  in  the  war  paint  of 
autumn;  the  persimmon  trees  bore  the  sticky, 
honey-sweet  fruit  in  its  puckered  coverings;  the 
chestnuts  were  dropping  to  the  earth  with  soft 
thuds,  advertising  thus  their  arrival  to  the  expec- 


252          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

tant  squirrels,  and  geese  were  flying  southward 
high  up  in  the  blue  sky.  Raoul  guided  the 
second  canoe.  The  stream  was  full  of  rapids, 
and  Beaver  Tail  in  La  Salle's  canoe  led  the  way. 
The  river  forked,  split  by  a  narrow  island,  per 
haps  two  or  three  miles  long.  Though  the  other 
canoe  had  kept  to  the  right,  Raoul,  with  no 
motive  other  than  an  instinctive  youthful  desire 
for  independence,  went  to  the  left  of  the  island, 
knowing  that  he  could  rejoin  the  other  farther 
down. 

He  was  alone  in  the  boat,  which  was  filled 
with  supplies  and  ammunition.  Before  him  rose 
a  steep  cliff,  and  his  sense  of  smell,  keen  now 
as  an  Indian's,  told  him  that  somewhere  within 
a  mile  or  so,  there  must  be  a  camp  or  a  village. 
He  noticed  something  white  on  the  cliff  and  as 
it  moved  decided  that  it  was  probably  a  human 
being.  He  looked  to  see  that  his  gun  was  in 
reach,  but  as  he  approached  nearer  he  discovered 
that  it  was  a  woman  whose  white  buckskin  robe 
glistened  in  the  sunshine.  She  was  evidently 
fishing  from  the  rock.  He  was  almost  abreast 
of  the  cliff  before  she  heard  the  noise  of  his 
paddle.  She  lifted  her  head  and  Raoul  was 
amazed  to  see  that,  though  she  was  dark  and 
tanned  by  the  sun,  her  face  was  not  that  of  an 
Indian.  She  glanced  down  at  him  with  equal 


KING  LOUIS  REMEMBERS  253 

astonishment,  and  just  before  a  rapid  caught 
the  bow  and  threatened  to  upset  the  canoe,  he 
recognized  in  this  tall  maiden  the  features  of 
Denise. 

"Denise!"  he  called  back,  but  he  could  not 
turn  to  see  whether  his  voice  had  carried  to  her, 
for  one  rapid  after  another  whirled  him  about 
like  a  cork,  requiring  all  his  skill  to  keep  his 
canoe  afloat.  When  he  reached  smoother  water 
he  pulled  to  the  shore  and  had  jumped  out  when 
La  Salle's  anxious  halloo  came  to  him  from  the 
distance.  Once  again  he  had  to  choose;  if  he 
went  back  to  search  for  his  old  companion  of 
six  years  ago  he  would  fail  the  Seigneur  to 
whom  every  day  was  of  utmost  importance.  He 
hesitated  nevertheless;  then  he  seemed  once 
again  to  see  the  Greyhound  and  to  hear  him 
say:  "they  sped  swiftly  to  their  ends,  have  been 
true.  Fear  not  that  you  will  disgrace  them." 
Slowly  he  stepped  back  into  the  boat  and  soon 
had  caught  up  with  the  rest.  He  did  not  tell 
La  Salle  what  had  happened;  he  knew  too  well 
that  the  Seigneur,  who  at  another  time  would 
have  been  keenly  interested,  now  had  no  thought 
for  anything  but  for  the  furthering  of  his  own 
gigantic  plans.  But  when  he  came  back  from 
France,  Raoul  swore  to  himself,  nothing  should 
prevent  his  setting  out  in  search  of  the  com- 


254          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

panion  of  his  boyhood  he  still  felt  half  guilty 
of  having  deserted. 

Villemarie  (Montreal)  and  Quebec  seemed  to 
him,  fresh  from  the  forests,  almost  uncomfor 
tably  crowded  with  people,  and  for  the  first 
night  or  two  he  spent  under  cover  he  slept 
restlessly  and  with  a  sense  of  suffocation.  He 
had  a  feeling  of  mental  suffocation  also  when 
he  learned  of  all  the  efforts  La  Salle  had  to 
make  to  settle  his  financial  affairs,  to  satisfy  this 
creditor  by  selling  furs,  and  to  assure  that  one 
that  he  had  really  descended  the  whole  length 
of  the  Colbert  River,  as  he  called  the  Mississippi, 
and  that  a  trading  station  had  already  been 
planted  at  Fort  St.  Louis.  There  was  no  time 
to  spare  in  Quebec,  but  Raoul  spent  an  hour  in 
the  gray-walled  seminary,  where  the  fathers  did 
not  hide  from  him  their  disappointment  and  dis 
approval  that  he  had  given  up  the  life  of  a 
missionary. 

La  Salle  breathed  a  long  breath  once  they 
were  embarked,  and  a  still  longer  one  when  they 
had  seen  the  last  shores  of  New  France  sink  into 
the  sunset. 

"For  weeks  now  we  shall  hear  no  complaints, 
no  hints  of  disaster,  no  cries  for  moneys,"  he 
said  to  Raoul  as  they  sat  on  a  coil  of  rope  in  the 
vessel's  stern,  the  great  sails  bellying  above  them. 


KING  LOUIS  REMEMBERS  255 

"How  have  you  done  it  all?"  asked  Raoul. 
1  'I  can  understand  how  you  have  borne  the 
fighting,  the  hunger  when  necessary,  long 
marches  and  dangers  even  from  disloyal  fol 
lowers;  but  to  me  worse  than  all  these  is  the 
striving  against  men  with  ears  deaf  to  all  that 
is  great,  against  misunderstandings  and  misrep 
resentations.  How  have  you  found  courage  to 
try  again  and  again  when  you  have  lost  your 
ships,  have  had  your  goods  stolen  from  you, 
have  had  to  meet  the  opposition  of  the 
Governor?" 

La  Salle  did  not  take  his  eyes  away  from  the 
gray-green  waste  as  he  answered:  "You  are 
growing  up,  my  son.  You  see  now  that  life 
is  no  broad  highway,  but  that  one  must  cut  one's 
own  trail.  How  do  I  go  ahead  after  disappoint 
ments  and  setbacks?  Can  the  captain  of  this 
ship  help  going  forward  when  the  wind  fills  the 
sails?  I  too  am  blown  by  the  wind  of  a  great 
desire.  Though  I  sail  into  strange  seas,  though 
men  call  me  mad,  I  must  go  ahead.  I  have 
dreamed  a  dream  and  I  must  see  it  fulfilled. 
Not  until  death's  calm  bids  the  wind  cease  can  I 
drop  anchor,  no  matter  what  rocks  lie  ahead." 

They  were  silent  for  a  long  time  while  dusk 
fell  and  the  ship's  lanterns  one  by  one  were 
lighted.  As  they  rose  to  go  below  to  supper, 


256          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

to  which  a  cabin  boy  had  just  bidden  them, 
Raoul  said:  "I  pray,  dear  Seigneur,  that  the 
King  will  have  willing  ears  for  your  great 
dream." 

"He  must  listen  to  it,"  replied  La  Salle  in  a 
tone  as  calm  as  it  was  assured. 

How  delightful  it  was  to  see  the  French  fields 
again,  though  the  winter  coloring  was  somber, 
and  the  canals,  and  the  highways  so  gay  with 
travelling  folk  who  looked  with  kindly  curiosity 
at  the  Seigneur  and  his  bronze-cheeked  com 
panion.  How  beautiful  were  the  long  lines  of 
poplars  growing  with  wide  spaces  between  them, 
as  Raoul  had  not  seen  trees  grow  for  many 
years;  the  little  towns  so  bright  with  midday 
markets  and  perhaps  a  regiment  in  brilliant 
uniforms  and  a  fanfare  of  brass  passing  through 
the  rows  of  ancient  dwellings,  their  windows 
shining  with  women's  faces.  The  slender  church 
towers  on  the  hills,  the  terraced  vineyards,  the 
orderly  farmyards — all  filled  Raoul  with  keen 
pleasure. 

"If  you  are  so  happy  now  what  will  you  be 
when  we  reach  Paris?"  queried  La  Salle. 

But  in  Paris  Raoul  felt  lonely  and  strange. 
He  had  left  his  master  at  his  old  lodgings  in  the 
rue  de  la  Truanderie,  and  then  had  gone  to  those 


KING  LOUIS  REMEMBERS  257 

of  his  brother  Gervase.  He  had  been  greeted 
most  kindly.  His  two  brothers  who  had  been 
expecting  him,  welcomed  him  with  real  affec 
tion  ;  but  after  the  first  few  hours  of  novelty,  of 
asking  questions,  and  of  shaking  of  heads  over 
the  possibility  of  understanding  what  difference 
it  made  whether  a  redskin  were  an  Illinois  or 
an  Iroquois,  and  an  incomprehension  of  any  life 
away  from  Paris,  or  France  at  least,  Raoul  felt 
as  if  he  were  speaking  another  language  that  no 
interpreter  could  ever  make  plain  to  them. 

La  Salle,  knowing  that  waiting  in  ante 
chambers  was  part  of  his  campaign,  strove  for 
patience  as  if  it  were  the  fortress  of  an  enemy 
which  he  must  conquer.  Yet  his  friends  assured 
him,  he  had  no  right  to  complain,  that  seldom 
had  a  petitioner  at  court  lost  so  little  time. 

"You  come  at  the  right  moment,"  one  of  them 
declared.  Seignelay's  (the  minister)  great  idea 
has  been  to  build  a  fort  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
so  that  we  may  hold  the  Spaniards  in  check,  and 
now  that  we  are  at  war  with  Spain,  he  will  be 
all  the  more  willing  to  listen  to  your  plans  and 
to  advise  the  King.  You  know  too  how  the 
Spaniards  have  forbidden  our  ships  to  sail  on 
your  Gulf  and  how  little  likely  the  Sun  King 
is  to  give  up  our  rights  in  this  matter." 

Versailles  and  the  court  were  well  used  to 


258          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

great  spectacles,  to  the  arrival  of  victorious  com 
manders  bearing  the  standards  of  many  battles. 
Nevertheless,  the  day  when  it  was  known  that 
His  Majesty  was  to  receive  Seigneur  de  La 
Salle,  who  was  said  to  have  traveled  half  round 
the  world  and  fought  his  way  through  hosts  of 
savages  and  cannibals,  the  courtyard,  the  stair 
ways  and  the  corridors  were  filled  with  courtiers 
and  ladies  eager  to  catch  sight  of  the  renowned 
explorer.  When  La  Salle,  accompanied  by 
Raoul,  was  guided  by  a  page  through  the  halls 
to  the  room  where  Seignelay  was  to  talk  with 
him  before  the  royal  audience,  the  onlookers 
were  disappointed.  His  wellmade  clothes,  his 
air  of  quiet  grace,  neither  too  assured  nor  timid, 
had  about  them  no  note  of  exotic  strangeness 
for  which  they  were  waiting.  It  was  rather 
Raoul,  whose  garments  could  not  succeed  in 
hiding  the  free  easy  carriage  of  the  forest,  who 
satisfied  them. 

"They  say  he  is  the  brother  of  Monsieur  de 
Larnac,"  whispered  one  lady  behind  her  fan  as 
he  passed  by,  blushing  at  the  stare  of  so  many 
eyes.  "  'Tis  a  pity  his  older  brother  has  not  more 
of  his  good  looks." 

"Have  you  the  memorial?"  questioned  Seig 
nelay  as  soon  as  he  had  greeted  La  Salle.  "It 
is  a  great  project  of  yours,  Monsieur  de  La 


KING  LOUIS  REMEMBERS  259 

Salle,  and  I  would  have  you  know  that  I  am 
proud  to  have  the  chance  to  put  it  before 
France's  King." 

"I  thank  you  for  your  courtesy,  Monsieur," 
La  Salle  replied,  his  heart  beating  swiftly  with 
hope. 

Louis  the  King,  looking  a  little  older  in  spite 
of  rouge  and  wig  and  lace  collar  and  fine  linen 
and  satin  than  the  day  when  Raoul  had  seen 
him  before,  was  waiting  for  the  audience  in  a 
small  room  that  seemed  to  Raoul  to  glow  with 
crimson  as  the  ruby  on  the  royal  finger.  The 
sovereign  asked  many  questions  and  showed  an 
intelligent  interest  in  the  accounts  which  La 
Salle  gave  him  of  the  descent  of  the  Mississippi 
and  his  plans  for  building  up  the  western 
Indians  as  a  barrier  against  the  Iroquois. 

"Seignelay  spoke  of  a  memorial,"  said  the 
King,  "in  which  you  had  set  forth  all  you  desire 
of  me." 

"It  is  here,  Sire,  for  him  to  read  if  you  will 
deign  to  listen,"  replied  La  Salle,  handing  the 
parchment  to  the  minister. 

"It  seems  to  me  that  yonder  young  man 
should  have  a  good  voice,"  remarked  the  King, 
who  had  been  looking  at  Raoul.  "If  he  has 
been  taught  his  letters  in  your  forest  let  him 
read  it  aloud  to  me." 


260         WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

Raoul  took  the  memorial  mechanically,  feeling 
certain  that  his  voice  had  left  him  forever.  He 
opened  the  parchment  and  opened  his  mouth, 
but  no  sound  came  forth.  The  King  was  amused 
at  his  embarrassment  and  waited,  smiling,  until 
a  voice  that  seemed  to  the  lad  to  belong  to 
someone  else  at  last  began  the  preamble.  As  he 
went  on,  the  knowledge  of  what  deeds,  what 
hardships,  what  bravery  and  what  hopes  these 
words  were  expressing  came  to  him;  his  voice 
grew  stronger,  and  he  was  proudly  conscious 
that  it  was  he,  the  favored  companion  of  the 
Seigneur,  who  was  granted  the  privilege  of 
bringing  them  to  the  King's  ear. 

He  read  how  La  Salle  had  made  five  journeys 
of  upwards  five  thousand  leagues,  had  travelled 
more  than  six  hundred  leagues  of  unknown 
country  among  unknown  tribes;  of  how  he  now 
proposed  to  return  by  way  of  the  Mexican  Gulf 
and  the  mouth  of  the  River  Colbert  to  the 
countries  he  had  discovered,  where  the  Indian 
tribes  should  profit  by  listening  to  the  teachings 
of  the  Gospel,  and  the  King's  glory  be  secured 
by  these  new  provinces,  rich  in  silver  mines  that 
the  Spaniards  would  be  unable  to  hold  against 
the  valor  of  the  French.  One  year  after  reach 
ing  the  mouth  of  the  river  would  suffice ;  and  for 
all  this,  all  the  discoverer  asked  was  one  vessel, 


KING  LOUIS  REMEMBERS  261 

two  hundred  men  with  arms,  munitions,  pay  and 
maintenance.  He  went  on  to  read  how  the  plan 
was  to  build  some  forts  along  the  river.  "Should 
the  foreigners  anticipate  us,"  the  young  voice 
rang  out,  "they  will  complete  the  ruin  of  New 
France,  which  they  already  hem  in  by  their 
establishments  of  Virginia,  Pennsylvania,  New 
England  and  Hudson  Bay." 

The  King  turned  to  whisper  to  Seignelay, 
but  La  Salle,  eager  as  he  was,  could  not  judge 
from  his  countenance  how  he  was  affected  by 
what  he  had  heard.  Then  the  minister  motioned 
to  Raoul  to  continue. 

He  read  that  the  spot  La  Salle  intended  first 
to  fortify  was  about  sixty  miles  above  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  which  the  French  could  easily 
defend,  or  from  which  they  could  make  an 
offensive  campaign.  He  read  how  the  Indians 
loved  the  French  and  would  join  them  against 
the  Spaniards  whom  they  detested.  To  accom 
plish  this,  La  Salle  said  that  he  would  send  word 
to  four  hundred  Indian  warriors  at  Fort  St. 
Louis  to  descend  the  river,  and  with  them  and 
the  ship  and  the  cannon  for  his  fort  and  the  men 
for  which  he  besought  the  aid  of  the  King,  he 
would  be  successful,  or  within  three  years  he 
would  forfeit  money  and  the  government  of  the 
forts  he  might  then  hold. 


262         WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

When  Raoul  had  finished  there  was  silence; 
only  from  the  corridors  without  came  faint 
sounds  of  laughter  and  footsteps.  La  Salle 
waited.  Finally  Louis  turned  to  the  minister 
and  said: 

"Seignelay,  I  do  not  agree  with  Monsieur 
de  La  Salle." 

All  the  crimson  of  the  chamber  turned  to 
black  for  the  two  whose  hopes  had  beat  so  high. 

"No,"  continued  the  King,  "two  vessels  are 
not  enough;  let  us  give  him  four.  And,  besides 
the  men  he  asks  for,  let  us  send  also  families, 
that  we  may  start  at  once  a  colony,  not  merely 
a  fort." 

The  two  heads  that  had  drooped  now  quickly 
straightened  again,  and  La  Salle,  half  incredu 
lous,  listened  to  the  King's  promises  of  help. 

"If  you  are  winning  me  a  new  kingdom,"  his 
sovereign  said,  "I  can  at  least  give  you  a  handful 
of  men  and  guns  to  hold  it." 

When  La  Salle  had  thanked  him  and  told 
him  that  he  planned  to  leave  just  as  soon  as  he 
could  get  the  expedition  together,  the  King  said : 

"Suppose,  though,  you  leave  your  young  lieu 
tenant,  who,  I  understand,  is  a  brother  of 
de  Larnac.  How  would  you  like  a  place  as 
lieutenant  in  my  guards,  my  son?  I  will  see 
that  you  have  fighting  enough." 


KING  LOUIS  REMEMBERS  263 

Raoul  could  not  be  sure  whether  his  sovereign 
was  in  earnest  or  teasing  him,  but  in  either  case 
he  did  not  know  how  he  ought  to  reply.  He 
glanced  at  La  Salle  for  aid,  but  he  did  not 
speak.  "Sire,"  he  stammered,  "I  am  most 
grateful  for  your  gracious  kindness  and  the 
memory  of  it  will  make  me  fight  the  harder 
for  your  cause  at  all  times.  Yet,  I  pray  you, 
let  me  fight  for  it  in  forests  rather  than  in  fields, 
for  I  have  sworn  to  my  Seigneur  here  that  I 
will  never  leave  him." 

"As  you  will  then,  lad,"  the  King  replied, 
"but  keep  your  scalp-lock  safe  from  the  savages. 
A  wife  will  want  to  caress  it  some  day." 

Raoul  bowed  in  acknowledgment  of  this  royal 
pleasantry.  He  and  La  Salle  were  at  the  door 
and  the  crimson  curtain  was  half  lifted  to  let 
them  pass,  when  the  King,  to  whom  his  minister 
had  whispered,  called: 

"Come  back  here,  young  sir.  Are  not  you 
the  lad  who  years  ago  hit  my  arm  with  a  stone?" 

Raoul  stood  before  him  in  utter  confusion. 
He  had  thought  this  incident  forgotten,  and  now 
his  thought  was  not  so  much  of  the  consequences 
to  himself  of  the  King's  displeasure,  but  of  his 
disappointment  that  so  great  a  man  could  harbor 
a  grudge  so  long  for  a  childish  blow.  He  stam 
mered  an  answer. 


264          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

"If  your  arm  has  grown  in  strength  since 
then,"  Louis  continued,  "I  pity  the  savages.  I 
can  feel  the  sting  yet.  But  if  you  must  hit  them, 
here  is  a  better  weapon." 

He  took  from  the  case  which  Seignelay,  smil 
ing,  had  handed  him,  a  pistol  of  ivory  carved 
and  banded  with  silver,  and  held  it  towards 
Raoul.  Never  had  his  young  eyes  beheld  so 
beautiful  a  firearm.  He  took  it,  scarce  believing 
it  could  be  his,  and  said,  as  he  knelt  to  kiss  the 
King's  hand: 

"This  shall  be  to  me  always  a  symbol  of  your 
kindness,  Sire,  and  I  trust  I  may  use  it  well 
against  your  enemies." 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
DISILLUSIONMENT 

"TT  is  a  God- forsaken  voyage  this,"  exclaimed 
A  one  of  the  men  aboard  the  Aimable,  as  on 
the  first  day  of  the  year  1685  the  storeship  of 
the  little  fleet  sailed  slowly  along  a  marshy 
coast.  "It  is  like  a  nightmare  when  I  think  of 
it:  two  months  from  Rochelle  to  that  sickly  isle 
of  San  Domingo,  where  we  all  but  died,  even 
the  Seigneur  himself;  the  disputes  between  him 
and  old  Seadog  Beaujeu,  whose  naval  dignity 
would  not  brook  interference  in  the  management 
of  his  ships;  the  never-dying  winds;  the  loneli 
ness,  and  all  for  what — yonder  dreary  coast!" 

"I  think  the  King  will  lose  his  money,"  his 
companion  answered,  yawning.  "I  see  no  gold 
or  silver  mines  here  to  be  won;  not  even  a 
savage  is  there  to  fight.  I  would  I  were  back 
within  smell  of  the  Seine  again." 

Raoul,  walking  the  deck  with  Father  Membre, 

265 


266          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

who  had  decided  to  return  to  the  New  World 
with  La  Salle,  overheard  them.  He  started  for 
ward  to  explain  to  them  that  it  was  too  soon 
yet  to  condemn  an  expedition  which  was  just 
begun.  Then  he  changed  his  mind  and  shrugged 
his  shoulders.  Their  words  had  found  an  echo 
in  his  spirit;  he  could  not  spur  his  own  enthu 
siasm.  Like  them,  he  had  been  influenced  by 
the  mishaps  of  the  voyage.  He,  too,  had  been 
ill,  but  not  as  La  Salle  had  been — within  close 
call  of  death.  He  had  suffered  from  the  difficul 
ties  which  had  arisen  between  Beaujeu  and 
La  Salle  even  before  they  set  sail.  He  longed 
for  the  moment  when  they  should  reach  their 
destination;  trackless  forests,  savage  Indians — 
anything  would  be  a  welcome  change  from  the 
narrow  deck  of  the  ship  where  so  much  dis 
content  was  bottled  up. 

One  of  the  four  ships  which  the  King  had 
given,  the  St.  Francois,  had  been  taken  by  Span 
ish  pirates,  and  the  news  of  this  loss  of  ship 
and  provisions  had  caused  a  relapse  in  La  Salle's 
illness  which  had  nearly  proved  fatal.  Now  the 
Aimable  and  the  Belle  were  sailing  close  to 
gether,  and  the  flagship,  the  Joly,  bearing  Beau 
jeu,  was  somewhere  in  the  rear,  out  of  sight. 
Raoul  stared  at  the  coast  before  him,  trying  to 
see  if  there  were  any  landmarks  he  could  recog- 


DISILLUSIONMENT  267 

nize.  He  knew  that  La  Salle  had  taken  some 
kind  of  reckonings  when  he  had  first  reached  the 
Gulf  after  their  descent  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
that,  according  to  them,  he  believed  that  they 
were  now  nearing  the  mouth  of  the  river. 

La  Salle  now  came  on  deck  with  his  brother, 
Abbe  Cavelier,  and  after  studying  the  land 
carefully,  gave  orders  to  anchor.  He  sprang 
into  the  small  boat  with  eagerness  and,  in  com 
pany  with  the  engineer,  went  ashore  to  explore 
the  marshy  land. 

"Not  yet,"  he  replied  to  Raoul  when  he 
returned  to  the  ship,  "but  we  cannot  be  far 
from  it."  And  once  again  they  set  sail  westward. 

Raoul  did  not  know  why  it  was  so,  but  with 
every  knot  farther  westward  they  advanced  his 
depression  increased.  It  was  as  if  something 
were  drawing  him  back  to  the  east.  It  had  been 
a  long  time  since  he  had  experienced  one  of  his 
"visions,"  but  that  night  as  he  lay  on  deck, 
wrapped  in  his  cloak,  he  seemed  to  see  the  river 
he  had  explored  two  years  before,  to  follow  it 
again  mile  by  mile  until  he  saw  it  empty  far 
to  the  east  of  where  they  now  were.  Next  morn 
ing  he  strove  to  shake  off  this  impression,  to 
reassure  himself  that  the  Seigneur's  reckonings 
were  far  more  likely  to  be  correct  than  his  own 
strange  feeling,  but  he  did  not  succeed.  On  the 


268          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

sixth  of  the  month  La  Salle,  who  could  not  be 
made  to  quit  the  deck,  cried  out  at  the  sight  of 
yellow  mud  spreading  out  into  the  gulf  from  the 
shore,  "Yonder  is  the  mouth,  my  friends.  Here 
we  are  at  last!" 

Still  Raoul  was  not  convinced.  The  picture 
before  him  was  not  the  same  as  the  one  in  his 
mind  of  the  meeting  of  river  and  gulf  that 
memorable  day  when  their  canoes  had  reached 
their  long  journey's  end. 

Since  the  Joly  had  still  not  made  her  appear 
ance,  La  Salle  would  not  land  for  fear  that  he 
might  miss  her.  "Doubtless  she  has  already 
passed  us,"  he  suggested;  "we  must  sail  on  in 
search  of  her.  If  old  Beaujeu  would  but  keep 
better  watch  my  patience  would  not  be  so  tested, 
Raoul.  But  after  all,  he  is  not  a  bad  sort  of 
sailor,  I  am  beginning  to  think." 

So  westward  they  sailed  again.  Once  Joutel, 
whose  father  had  been  a  gardener  of  La  Salle's 
uncle,  tried  to  land,  but  without  success  for  a 
time,  and  when  he  did  get  through  the  breakers 
he  came  back  with  nothing  more  valuable  than 
some  wildfowl.  Even  some  Indians  who  swam 
out  to  the  Almable  could  give  them  no  infor 
mation,  for  their  tongue  was  unlike  any  Indian 
speech  that  either  La  Salle  or  Raoul  was  familiar 
with.  At  last  La  Salle,  who  had  sailed  as  far 


DISILLUSIONMENT  269 

westward  as  the  waters  now  known  as  Corpus 
Christ!  Bay,  decided  that  the  Joly  must  be 
behind  rather  than  before  them,  and  so  ordered 
their  course  to  be  changed  to  the  eastward. 

Finally,  when  the  fog  rose,  the  Joly  was 
sighted.  When  one  of  Beaujeu's  officers  came 
on  board  the  Aimable,  each  side  blamed  the  other 
for  the  separation  and  the  anxiety  of  the  search. 
There  was  also  much  dispute  as  to  their  position. 
Raoul  discovered  that  one  day  La  Salle  would 
be  certain  the  marshy  lands  before  them  be 
longed  to  the  delta  of  the  Mississippi,  and  on 
the  next  he  would  suggest  they  might  as  well 
sail  a  little  farther  in  search  of  it.  Beaujeu 
rejoined  that  his  provisions  were  giving  out, 
that  the  soldiers  would  soon  have  devoured  all 
of  them,  and  that  a  decision  must  be  reached. 

At  last,  one  day  all  of  La  Salle's  doubts 
seemed  to  lift  like  the  fog,  and  he  asserted  that 
the  wide  opening  before  them  was  the  long- 
sought  haven,  and  he  named  it  the  Bay  of  St. 
Louis  (Matagorda  Bay) . 

"Here  will  we  land,"  he  announced  to  Beau 
jeu.  "There  will  be  a  fair  anchorage  for  the 
Aimable  and  the  Belle" 

"I  doubt  not  that  you  know  how  to  navigate 
a  canoe  on  a  river,  Seigneur  La  Salle,"  the  naval 
officer  said  sneeringly,  "but  even  the  King's 


270         WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

favor  cannot  make  a  seaman  out  of  a  landlubber, 
There  is  not  water  enough  yonder  for  the  ships 
to  ride  in.  You  will  endanger  them  if  you 
persist." 

But  La  Salle  did  not  change  his  orders.  "Take 
some  men,  Raoul,"  he  commanded,  "and  lay  out 
a  site  for  a  camp.  Cut  down  trees  as  quickly 
as  possible,  so  that  there  may  be  a  cleared  space 
about  to  prevent  Indians  approaching  unseen." 

Now,  that  he  was  once  ashore  and  had  work 
to  do,  Raoul  was  able  to  shake  off  the  persistent 
feeling  that  the  Mississippi's  mouth  was  to  the 
eastward.  Most  of  the  men  who  were  with  him 
had  never  before  been  in  a  wild  country  and 
were  only  too  willing  to  accept  his  leadership. 
He  set  some  of  them  to  felling  trees  and  taking 
a  few  others  along,  went  off  to  explore  the  firmer 
ground  back  of  the  marshes.  He  had  had  no 
orders  to  do  this,  but  his  eagerness  to  learn  more 
of  his  surroundings  spurred  him  on.  In  the 
distance  he  saw  a  herd  of  buffalo,  and  was  ex 
plaining  to  his  companions  the  nature  of  these 
beasts  and  how  to  hunt  them,  when  a  sudden 
shower  of  arrows  fell  amongst  them.  The 
handful  of  Frenchmen  drew  quickly  together, 
but  before  they  would  fire  the  two  guns  they 
had  with  them,  a  score  of  Indians  had  run  up 


DISILLUSIONMENT  271 

over  the  top  of  a  sand  dune  and  surrounded 
them. 

"It  is  my  fault,"  cried  Raoul  remorsefully.  "I 
should  never  have  led  you  so  far." 

There  was  no  use,  he  saw,  in  trying  to  resist 
such  a  superior  force,  but  he  shouted  to  one  of 
the  other  men,  who  had  luckily  lagged  behind, 
to  hasten  back  to  the  shore  and  notify  La  Salle 
of  their  capture. 

The  messenger  came  upon  La  Salle  just  as 
he  was  landing  and  watching  the  Almable  tack 
slowly  to  the  anchorage  he  had  assigned  to  her. 

"Raoul  let  himself  be  ambushed!"  he  ex 
claimed  disdainfully  to  Father  Membre.  "I  did 
wrong  to  trust  him.  After  all,  he  is  but  a  boy 
in  years,  and  I  must  remember  may  be  led  away 
by  a  boy's  will." 

Bidding  all  the  men  ashore  take  their  arms, 
he  hurried  off,  and  in  a  few  minutes  saw  a  party 
of  Indians  ahead.  They  seemed  undecided 
whether  to  attack  or  to  fly,  but  La  Salle's  ges 
ture  of  friendship  reassured  them.  By  means 
of  signs  and  some  words  he  had  picked  up  since 
he  had  been  exploring  the  gulf  coast,  he  learned 
that  his  men  had  been  carried  farther  inland. 
He  hastened  on  and  soon  came  in  sight  of  the 
village. 

"It  looks  like  a  colony  of  bee  hives,"  one  of 


272          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

the  men  exclaimed  as  he  came  near  enough  to 
see  the  curious  rounded  huts.  To  his  relief, 
La  Salle  heard  a  whistle  which  came  from  the 
center  of  the  crowd  filling  the  space  between  the 
ring  of  huts  and  knew  that  it  was  Raoul's.  The 
Indians  had  arrows  fitted  to  their  bows  and  La 
Salle  anticipated  a  severe  fight  before  he  would 
be  able  to  rescue  the  prisoners. 

Just  then  a  cannon  boomed,  and  at  the  terrific 
sound,  coming  they  knew  not  whence,  the  In 
dians  fell  flat  upon  the  earth,  hiding  their  faces 
in  the  sand. 

"We  are  saved,"  cried  a  Frenchman,  "just 
in  the  nick  of  time,  or  some  of  us  would  have 
been  lying  as  the  savages  lie  yonder." 

"We  may  be  saved,"  La  Salle  admitted,  "but 
look,  the  Aimable  is  lost." 

Back  of  them  they  could  see  the  gallant  little 
ship  ashore  on  a  reef.  His  heart  was  sick  at  this 
new  misfortune,  but  no  Indian,  gazing  at  his 
stern,  determined  face,  would  have  guessed  that 
any  thought  of  weakness  was  harbored  there. 
He  showed  no  signs  of  displeasure  or  fear  when, 
recovering  from  their  fright,  they  surrounded 
him  and  brought  him  buffalo  meat  to  eat.  He 
acted  to  them  as  he  always  did  to  the  savages, 
as  if  they  were  his  friends,  and  his  assurance 
and  calmness  overawed  them.  He  thanked  them 


DISILLUSIONMENT  278 

for  the  feast  they  offered  and  promised  he  would 
come  to  them  some  other  day.  Just  now,  he 
said,  he  had  need  of  his  men,  whom  they  had 
seized  by  mistake,  wrongly  imagining  them  to  be 
foes.  And  to  the  great  astonishment  of  the 
Frenchmen,  who  had  not  expected  to  escape 
without  bloodshed,  the  Indians  made  no  attempt 
to  gainsay  him. 

"Ah!  Seigneur/'  cried  Raoul  as  they  hastened 
back,  their  ears  catching  the  cries  and  orders  and 
counter-orders  of  the  sailors  who  were  trying  to 
pull  the  Aimable  off  the  reef,  "what  have  I  done? 
If  I  had  not  taken  you  away  ..." 

"Much  harm,  Raoul,"  La  Salle  answered 
sadly;  "yet  I,  too,  am  guilty.  Beaujeu  was 
right ;  there  was  not  water  enough  in  the  channel 
for  the  ship." 

Never  had  Raoul  seen  his  Seigneur  so  down 
cast  as  on  their  short  journey  to  the  shore.  He 
knew  the  great  value  to  him  of  the  ship  and  her 
supplies.  But  once  on  the  scene,  his  master 
gave  orders  calmly  and  wisely.  Since  the  ship 
herself  was  hopelessly  lost,  all  attention  must  be 
paid  to  saving  her  cargo.  Flour  and  gunpowder 
were  of  utmost  importance. 

"Can  I  trust  you,  Raoul,  to  guard  the  gun 
powder?"  he  asked,  and  his  question  was  the 
boy's  chief  punishment. 


274          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

When  the  sea  rose  and  the  waters  were  full 
of  the  precious  stores,  a  band  of  Indians  rushed 
down  from  the  dunes,  eager  to  carry  away  the 
unexpected  treasures.  La  Salle  ordered  the 
drummer  to  beat  an  alarm  and  his  men  drove 
the  savages  off.  Every  now  and  then,  though, 
during  the  night,  as  Raoul  walked  back  and 
forth  among  the  casks  and  bales,  looking  out 
that  no  one,  red  or  white — for  he  had  reason  not 
to  trust  many  of  the  expedition — removed  any 
of  the  stores,  he  could  catch  a  glimpse  in  the 
lantern  light  of  La  Salle  as  he  sat  among  the 
piled-up  bags  and  boxes.  He  knew  that  for 
him,  too,  there  *was  no  sleep,  and  he  felt,  as  if 
with  his  own  mind,  the  keenness  of  his  master's 
regret.  He  longed  to  go  and  beg  for  forgiveness 
for  his  share  in  the  disaster,  but  he  was  aware 
that  he  had  no  right  to  intrude  even  his  remorse 
upon  La  Salle  now.  All  he  could  do  was  to  guard 
faithfully  what  had  been  entrusted  to  him.  In 
the  future  he  would  find  some  way,  some  service, 
to  offset  the  harm  he  had  done. 

When  morning  came  La  Salle  looked  about 
him  to  muster  his  colony  and  the  store  remaining. 
The  ground  where  they  had  been  forced  to  camp 
was  low  and  marshy  and,  from  the  mists  he  had 
seen  rising,  he  knew  that  it  must  be  unhealthy. 
He  could  see  that  alreadv  some  of  the  men  and 


DISILLUSIONMENT  275 

women  were  shaking  and  their  morose  expres 
sions  showed  only  too  plainly  the  state  of  their 
feeling.  After  a  breakfast  of  such  scraps  as 
they  could  lay  hands  on,  he  ordered  the  men  to 
pile  the  boxes  and  bales  and  the  cannon  and  their 
mounts  around  the  camp  as  a  protection  for 
them  all,  and  to  pen  in  the  swine  and  fowls 
which  they  had  brought  with  such  care  from 
overseas.  He  came  across  a  girl  crying  from 
homesickness,  and  the  sight  of  her  dejected  body, 
as  she  had  thrown  herself  across  a  bag  of  flour, 
made  him  realize  as  he  had  never  realized  before 
the  weight  of  his  resonsibility. 

For  several  days  he  and  Raoul  had  no  words 
alone.  The  boy  did  his  utmost  to  assist  La  Salle 
in  his  endeavors  to  better  the  condition  of  the 
colonists.  He  showed  them  how  to  get  oysters 
and  sought  in  vain  to  build  an  oven  for  baking; 
but  there  were  no  stones  and  no  clay,  and  the 
women,  protesting  that  such  food  was  not  fit  for 
the  pigs,  boiled  flour  in  brackish  water.  Many 
fell  ill  and  each  day  several  died.  The  Indians, 
growing  bold,  robbed  some  of  the  colonists  of 
their  blankets.  Some  volunteered  to  go  after 
them,  and  though  they  reached  the  camp  from 
which  the  inhabitants  had  fled,  they  were  am 
bushed  on  their  return  and  two  men  were  killed 
and  another  wounded. 


276         WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

"Raoul,"  commanded  La  Salle  after  this  had 
occurred,  "we  must  have  more  cannon.  Will 
you  go  to  Captain  Beaujeu  and  ask  him  to  send 
ashore  those  that  are  still  on  the  Joly,  and  also 
the  iron?'' 

Raoul  was  only  too  eager  for  this  embassy. 
It  was  almost  like  returning  home  to  step  upon 
the  smartly  kept  deck  of  the  ship  after  the  con 
fusion  on  shore.  Beaujeu,  too,  seemed  pleased 
to  see  him. 

"Tell  Seigneur  La  Salle,"  he  said,  "that 
before  I  sail  for  France  I  will  go  to  Martinique 
if  he  wishes  for  reinforcements  and  provisions, 
and  that  I  wish  I  could  give  him  his  iron,  but  it 
is  impossible  to  unload  it  except  in  a  harbor, 
for  it  is  my  ballast  and  lies  under  the  cannon.  It 
would  take  three  days  to  get  it  out,  which  cannot 
be  done  in  this  place  where  the  sea  runs  like 
mountains  when  the  slightest  winds  blow  out 
side." 

Raoul,  who  now,  like  La  Salle,  had  overcome 
his  first  dislike  to  Beaujeu,  thanked  him  for  his 
courtesy  and  went  back  to  report  what  he  had 
said  and  returned  again  with  La  Salle's  answer 
that  he  felt  he  had  reached  the  place  he  sought 
and  was  in  a  fair  way  of  success  if  he  could  but 
have  the  cannon,  cannon  balls  and  iron  stored  on 
board  the  Joly." 


EACH  MORNING  LA  SALLE  FELT  SURE  HE  WOULD 
DISCOVER  SOME  MARSH. 


DISILLUSIONMENT  277 

"Do  you  think  he  has  reached  the  mouth  of 
the  Colbert  River?"  asked  the  officer,  giving 
Raoul  a  quick  searching  glance.  "I  understand 
that  you  were  with  him  when  he  first  explored 
it." 

Raoul  did  not  answer.  He  felt  it  disloyal  to 
breathe  to  another  the  suspicion  that  the  Seig 
neur  could  have  made  a  mistake. 

"I  understand,"  Beaujeu  remarked  gravely. 
"I  wish  I  need  not  leave  him;  but  at  all  events, 
he  shall  have  his  iron  if  I  endanger  my  ship  by 
moving  everything  in  the  hold." 

It  was  several  days  later  when  he  sailed,  tak 
ing  on  the  Joly  only  those  whose  spirits  could  not 
recover  from  their  first  disappointment  and  fear. 

"My  own  brother  would  have  left  me,  Raoul," 
said  La  Salle  as  they  watched  the  ship  sail,  "if 
I  had  not  shamed  him  into  staying.  What,  think 
you,  would  our  loyal  Tonty  say  to  that?  There 
are  but  a  few  of  us  here  whom  I  can  trust,  lad; 
Moranget,  my  nephew,  the  friars,  the  Marquis 
de  la  Sablonniere,  and  our  faithful  Joutel." 

When  the  ship  was  out  of  sight  he  turned  and 
his  mood  had  changed.  "Now,"  he  cried,  "we 
must  depend  upon  ourselves.  Let  us  waste  no 
more  time.  We  must  learn  more  of  our  sur 
roundings.  Will  you  come  with  me,  lad?" 

Joutel  was  left  in  charge,  and  the  two  with 


278          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

several  soldiers,  set  off  to  explore.  Each  morn 
ing  La  Salle  felt  sure  he  would  discover  some 
marsh  which  would  prove  to  be  an  opening  into 
the  river,  perhaps  an  Indian  camp  where  he 
would  find  the  friends  he  had  made  two  years 
ago.  And  each  night  he  was  a  little  less  certain. 
Raoul  felt  that  he  could  scarcely  bear  to  wit 
ness  the  growing  conviction  of  his  mistake.  It 
was  not  until  they  returned  to  the  camp  and 
heard  of  the  attacks  it  had  suffered  from  Indians 
during  their  absence,  that  La  Salle  opened  his 
heart.  "I  was  wrong,  Raoul,  wrong.  This  is 
not  our  river!  God  knows  now  much  farther  it 
is  behind  us  to  the  eastward.  But  we  must  find 
some  way  to  reach  it  yet.  It  cannot  be  that  my 
great  plan  is  not  to  be  successful!" 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE  FINAL  EFFORT 

"T  TOW  long,  Joutel,  think  you  we  shall  have 
A  A  to  wait  for  news?"  queried  Raoul  as  he 
stood  at  the  older  man's  side,  watching  the 
soldiers  and  sailors  harnessed  to  logs  they  had 
felled  and  were  now  dragging  slowly  along,  to  be 
used  in  building  the  storehouse  and  the  dwelling 
houses  on  the  higher  ground  along  the  Lavaca 
River,  whither  La  Salle  had  moved  the  colony 
temporarily  until  he  should  find  the  Mississippi, 
for  which  he  had  once  again  gone  in  search. 

"It  is  idle  to  guess,"  Joutel  answered  and  in 
terrupted  himself  to  call  out  orders  in  several 
different  directions.  "I  would  the  Seigneur  were 
back,  though,"  he  continued  a  moment  later,  "I 
never  was  born  to  rule  a  colony  of  homesick  and 
bodysick  men  and  women,  and  I  should  be  glad 
to  hand  over  my  responsibilities  to  him  again." 

"But  you  do  manage  the  fort  as  if  you  were 
born  to  it,"  Raoul  insisted,  "and  now  that  all 

279 


280          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

have  learned  not  to  eat  immoderately  of  fruits 
and  berries  there  is  less  illness  and  everyone  is 
more  cheerful." 

"I  doubt  whether  the  Seigneur  would  approve 
of  our  singing  and  dancing  at  night,"  Joutel 
remarked,  shaking  his  head.  "He  is  grave,  you 
know ;  but  I  believe  it  is  needful  to  do  something 
to  take  our  thoughts  away  from  our  disappoint 
ments  and  our  worries." 

A  young  girl  of  about  ten  ran  by  them,  chas 
ing  the  one  precious  pair  of  goats.  Her  joyous 
laughter,  as  they  butted  into  one  of  the  few  hogs 
curled  up  in  the  midst  of  the  black  and  white 
litter,  brought  a  smile  to  Joutel's  lips.  "It  is 
good  that  she  at  least  is  not  wondering  what  is 
to  become  of  us  all.  Even  if  the  Seigneur  does 
find  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  soon  which,  like 
you,  I  feel  certain  lies  many  leagues  to  the  east 
of  us,  can  he  bring  us  in  safety  all  the  way  north 
to  the  colony  of  your  Indian  friends,  the  Illinois 
of  whom  you  have  told  me?" 

"I  do  not  know,"  answered  Raoul.  "I  am 
now  a  man  in  years,  and  I  fear  not  to  fight  with 
any  man  and  to  bear  hardships,  but  I  could  not 
bear  the  burden  of  the  Seigneur.  Who  else  but 
he  can  tell  what  must  be  done?  I  would  though, 
Joutel,"  he  added,  speaking  in  a  lower  tone, 
"that  he  had  different  men  to  serve  him.  There 


THE  FINAL  EFFORT  281 

are  but  few  of  all  who  came  from  France  on 
whom  he  can  rely.  His  own  brother,  Abbe 
Cavelier,  is  no  help;  his  nephew,  young  Mor- 
anget,  is  so  arrogant  and  hot  tempered  that  he 
makes  everyone  angry  with  him,  and  then  these, 
nursing  their  anger,  hold  the  uncle  responsible 
for  the  nephew's  faults.  Moreover,  the  Aimable, 
you  and  I  know,  did  not  go  on  on  the  rocks  save 
by  treachery.  Those  two  brothers,  Duhaut  I 
do  not  trust.  I  have  caught  them  whispering 
at  times  with  the  surgeon  Liotot:  I  feel  as  if 
there  were  all  sorts  of  unseen  enemies  about  us, 
like  the  alligators  that  infest  these  marshes.  If 
they  were  open  enemies  like  the  savages  we  have 
driven  back  from  our  palisades,  or  like  the 
buffalo  bull  you  killed  when  he  came  near  being 
the  end  of  Father  Douay,  I  would  charge 
straight  at  them." 

"I  think  the  fever  has  not  quite  left  you,  son," 
the  older  man  said,  laying  his  hand  affectionately 
on  Raoul's  shoulder.  "Tonight  you  must  sing 
for  us,  and  that  will  do  you  good,  as  it  will 
us,  and  the  girls  will  learn  why  the  Indians 
named  you  'White  Thrush.'  " 

That  night  while  they  were  singing  and  danc 
ing  and  playing  cards,  forgetting  for  a  moment 
that  France  was  far  away  and  the  savages  near, 
Raoul,  who  had  just  gone  out  to  visit  the  sentries, 


282          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

rushed  back,  calling  out  to  Joutel'.  "There  is 
a  canoe  yonder  on  the  river  with  a  white  man  in 
it." 

Everyone  jumped  up  and  ran  down  to  the 
bank. 

"It  is  Duhaut,"  exclaimed  Joutel  in  disap 
pointment  and  amazement;  "what  does  he  here 
alone?" 

Duhaut  now  sprang  ashore,  and  to  their  eager 
questionings  replied  that  he  had  loitered  one 
day  behind  La  Salle  and  the  others  and  when  he 
tried  to  overtake  them  had  lost  his  way,  and  it 
was  only  after  a  month's  wanderings  that  he 
had  succeeded  in  finding  the  fort. 

"I  do  not  believe  him,"  Raoul  whispered  to 
Joutel;  still  he  listened  to  Duhaut's  story  of 
how  some  of  the  sailors  of  the  Belle  had  been 
killed  by  the  Indians.  The  feeling  of  anxiety 
which  never  left  him  for  La  Salle's  safety  was 
increased  by  Duhaut's  return. 

One  early  spring  day  Joutel  climbed  to  the 
top  of  the  highest  house — the  only  point  of 
vantage  on  the  flat  coast — and  looked  out  over 
the  prairie.  He  called  down  suddenly  to  Raoul 
below : 

"I  see  a  small  party  of  white  men  approach 
ing.  It  must  be  La  Salle." 

He  hurried  down  and  they  set  out  to  meet 


THE  FINAL  EFFORT  283 

them.    There  were  hearty  greetings  on  both  sides 
and  many  questions. 

"You  see  we  are  very  ragged,  my  friends," 
La  Salle  said  smiling  as  he  pointed  to  their 
clothes.  "We  have  had  many  encounters  with 
briars  and  marshes,  with  waters  and  with  savages, 
and  our  garments  would  not  be  allowed  in  the 
streets  of  Paris." 

He  had  no  words  of  despair  for  his  disappoint 
ments.  As  soon  as  they  were  rested,  he  said,  and 
had  supplied  themselves  with  ammunition,  he 
would  set  forth  again. 

"Who  is  that?"  he  asked  Joutel,  eyeing  sharp 
ly  the  back  of  a  man  who  seemed  to  be  trying 
to  slip  into  the  storehouse  unnoticed. 

"It  is  Duhaut,"  Joutel  answered,  and  he  re 
peated  the  story  Duhaut  had  told. 

"It  is  a  lie,"  cried  La  Salle.  "He  deserted 
us  for  fear  of  the  dangers  that  might  still  be 
ahead.  He  is  not  to  be  trusted  but  ..." 

Raoul  could  finish  the  sentence  for  him.  He 
knew  that  he  meant  that  Duhaut  was  but  one 
of  the  many  who  would  desert  any  moment  if 
there  were  but  any  place  where  they  could  go. 

The  fatigue  of  his  long  wanderings  and  the 
news  the  next  day  that  the  Belle  was  either  lost 
or  that  her  crew  had  sailed  for  France,  leaving 
the  colony  to  its  fate,  brought  back  La  Salle's 


284         WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

illness.  Once  again  Raoul  tended  him  lovingly, 
and  at  last  the  strong  spirit  bade  the  body  obey 
and  La  Salle  got  to  his  feet  once  more. 

"You  will  take  me  with  you  this  time,  Seig 
neur,"  Raoul  begged.  "I  cannot  stay  behind." 

"You  shall  go  with  me,  son,"  La  Salle 
promised.  "I  too  have  missed  your  company 
sorely.  You  will  be  my  greatest  aid.  I  know 
now,  Raoul,  that  we  can  look  for  no  help  to 
come  to  us  here.  Though  we  stare  our  eyes  out, 
they  will  never  see  a  ship  sailing  westward  to  us. 
It  is  I  who  must  go  for  succor,  and  you  with  me. 
We  shall  yet  find  the  Mississippi,  and  then  we 
shall  hurry  up  to  the  Illinois  and  to  Tonty,  and 
we  shall  get  men  and  provisions  from  Canada 
for  the  colony  here." 

It  was  with  twenty  men  that  La  Salle  set  out, 
among  them  his  nephew,  Moranget,  and  his 
Indian  hunter  Nika,  who  had  accompanied  him 
to  France;  and  it  was  with  only  eight  of  them 
he  returned  some  weeks  later,  again  unsuccess 
ful. 

"I  tell  you,  Joutel,"  Raoul  said  that  night  as 
they  sat  together  by  the  river,  trying  to  get  a 
cool  breeze  from  the  Gulf,  "that  the  Seigneur  is 
greater  in  adversity  even  than  in  good  fortune. 
Had  you  but  seen  him  day  by  day  as  we 
journeyed.  We  killed  buffalo  and  carried  a§ 


THE  FINAL  EFFORT  285 

much  meat  as  we  could.  Old  German  Hiems 
was  nearly  drowned  in  one  river  we  crossed  and 
Pierre  was  devoured  by  an  alligator.  We  en 
tered  Indian  villages  where  sometimes  we  were 
welcomed  and  sometimes  attacked.  Once  the 
Seigneur  was  swept  down  the  river  on  a  raft, 
and  we  thought  we  should  never  see  him  again. 
We  saw  the  spoils  of  the  Spaniards  in  the  wig 
wams  of  the  Cenis,  and  we  suffered  fever.  But 
we  did  not  find  the  Mississippi." 

Joutel  told  of  all  that  had  happened  during 
their  absence  from  the  fort.  "I  cannot  help  be 
ing  glad  you  are  back,"  he  said.  "The  presence 
of  La  Salle  has  already  heartened  my  flock  who 
are  so  homesick  and  hopeless.  His  words,  when 
he  wills,  put  new  life  into  everyone." 

"We  shall  not  stay  here  long  though,  Joutel," 
Raoul  announced.  "I  know  that  the  Seigneur 
is  eager  to  be  off  again." 

Cloth  was  no  longer  to  be  had  to  piece  out  torn 
garments,  so  at  JouteFs  suggestion,  the  extra 
canvas  sails  left  behind  by  the  Belle  were  cut 
up  and  hose  and  jerkins  fashioned  from  them. 
The  sight  of  these  garments  brought  many 
smiles  as  La  Salle  and  the  seventeen  men  he  had 
chosen  for  his  final  expedition  went  about 
bidding  farewell. 

"Take    good    care    of    the    fort,    Barbier," 


286          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

counselled  Joutel  as  he  shook  hands  with  his 
comrade  left  in  charge;  "there  are  some  amongst 
us  I  wish  were  to  remain  behind  here,  and  I  would 
that  you  could  come  with  us  in  their  stead." 

"Have  you  anyone  in  particular  in  mind?" 
asked  Barbier,  and  Raoul  lingered  to  hear  the 
answer;  but  La  Salle,  who  had  reached  the  gate 
in  the  palisades,  called  and  they  had  to  hurry 
forward  and  he  found  no  time  that  day  for 
further  conversation  with  Joutel. 

The  party  set  off  lustily,  La  Salle  with  hopes 
again  high,  and  the  others  exhilarated  by  the 
briskness  of  the  winter  air  and  bright  sunshine 
and  the  possibility  of  success.  There  was  Abbe 
Cavelier  and  Friar  Douay,  Moranget,  La  Salle's 
nephew,  German  Hiems,  Duhaut,  Liotot,  the 
surgeon,  Nika,  Beaver  Tail  and  others.  Five 
precious  horses  carried  their  extra  supplies  and 
goods  for  barter  with  the  Indians.  The  poor 
beasts  quivered  with  nervousness  at  the  strange 
sights,  sounds  and  odors. 

Raoul,  the  two  Indians,  Nika  and  Beaver 
Tail,  acted  as  guides.  They  scouted  ahead,  chose 
the  best  spots  for  camp,  fished  and  hunted  and 
gave  warning  often  of  approaching  Indians.  By 
means  of  signs  and  some  words  they  had  learned 
from  these,  they  were  informed  that  the  Great 
River  lay  ahead  of  them  towards  the  rising  sun. 


THE  FINAL  EFFORT  287 

For  some  weeks  they  continued  and  each  day  that 
they  toiled  without  success  the  spirit  of  the  men 
became  more  morose,  and  several  times  Raoul 
came  upon  Liotot  and  Duhaut  as  they  were 
talking  in  low  tones. 

"It  was  a  few  leagues  from  this  spot,  to  the 
north,  that  I  hid  a  quantity  of  corn  and  beans 
in  a  hollow  tree  when  I  passed  by  here  last 
autumn,"  said  La  Salle  one  evening  in  the 
middle  of  March.  "We  have  indeed  need  of  it 
now  to  replenish  our  bags.  You,  Duhaut,  and 
you,  Liotot,  and  Hiems,  Teissier,  FArcheveque, 
Nika  and  Saget,  will  set  off  to  fetch  it  while  the 
rest  of  us  wait  here." 

When  they  had  started  those  remaining  ate 
their  supper  and  made  their  arrangements  for 
the  night.  Raoul's  spirits  had  sunk  so  low  that 
he  felt  he  could  not  sleep,  and  he  sat  crouched 
before  the  fire,  his  head  in  his  hands.  He  felt 
someone  sit  down  beside  him,  but  he  was  so 
miserable  that  he  did  not  care  who  it  was,  and 
did  not  even  look  up.  A  hand  touched  his  head 
and  he  heard  La  Salle's  voice : 

"Raoul,  my  son,  what  is  it?" 

The  tenderness  of  the  tone  brought  tears  to 
Raoul's  eyes.  It  had  been  so  long  since  the 
Seigneur  had  spoken  to  him  intimately  that  he 
knew  now  that  he  had  been  hungry  for  his  words 


288          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

and  companionship.  He  straightened  himself 
and  smiled,  but  his  smile  was  a  sad  one. 

"You  are  afraid,  Raoul?"  La  Salle  asked,  and 
reproached  was  mingled  with  the  tenderness. 
"Afraid,  I  mean  not  of  any  special  danger,  but 
of  all  the  unknown  before  us,  of  what  may 
happen." 

"And  are  you  never  afraid,  Seigneur?"  the 
youth  queried  quickly,  as  if  to  justify  himself, 
"afraid  that  the  evil  luck  which  has  pursued 
us  ever  since  we  left  France  may  continue? 
Does  your  mind  never  grow  dark  with  fear  that 
after  all  ...  after  all  your  hopes  ...  all  your 
daring  ...  all  your  suffering  .  .  .  you  may  fail 
in  the  end?" 

His  last  words  were  spoken  so  low  that  they 
were  almost  inaudible,  but  La  Salle  caught  them. 
The  man  did  not  answer;  he  threw  some  pieces 
of  pine  on  the  fire,  and  when  it  blazed  up  brightly 
looked  searchingly  into  the  flames,  as  if  he  would 
read  the  future  there. 

"The  end?"  he  repeated  after  a  while,  "the 
end?  .  .  .  That  is  not  our  concern.  It  is  what 
comes  before  the  end." 

The  crackling  of  the  fire  was  the  only  sound 
for  a  few  moments.  "And  if  I  should  fail  in 
the  end,  lad,"  he  began  again;  "if  God  wills  that 
other  hands  shall  build  where  I  have  laid  the 


THE  FINAL  EFFORT  289 

foundations,  have  I  not  already  done  what  shall 
never  be  forgotten?  Have  I  not  given  France 
a  new  empire,  made  savage  tribes  her  friends, 
conceived  a  great  plan  which  shall  be  carried 
out,  whether  or  not  it  be  I  who  do  it?  I  shall  not 
fear,  son;  I  shall  not  falter  before  the  end,  and 
what  the  end  shall  be  lies  in  the  hands  of  God." 

"Forgive  me,  Seigneur,"  Raoul  begged,  and 
he  did  not  need  to  say  for  what  he  asked  for 
giveness. 

"But  you,  Raoul,"  La  Salle  now  spoke  in  a 
different  tone,  "must  learn  not  to  give  in  weakly 
to  moods.  You  have  proved  yourself  a  man  in 
valor  and  endurance;  you  must  henceforth  be  a 
man  in  spirit.  You  must  not  ask  yourself  'what 
will  the  morrow  bring  forth?'  You  must  wake 
each  morning  and  say,  CI  am  ready  for  to-day.' 
You  know  that  the  New  World  asks  for  men  of 
different  mould  than  those  of  Europe.  I  think 
not  that  you  regret  having  come  to  it." 

"Nay,  Seigneur,  I  could  not  live  there  again," 
he  replied.  "Whatever  happens,  my  life  shall 
be  spent  in  New  France,  and  with  you.  Am  I 
not  your  son?" 

"You  have  indeed  been  a  son  to  me,  Raoul," 
La  Salle  assented,  "a  son  who  fills  me  with  hap 
piness  and  pride.  I  trust  that  we  shall  work 


290    WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

side  by  side  while  I  live,  and  that  when  I  die 
you  will  carry  on  my  work." 

He  was  in  the  mood  for  talking,  and  they  sat 
by  the  fire  half  the  night,  recalling  many  inci 
dents  of  their  first  meeting  and  of  the  long 
journey  down  and  up  the  Mississippi.  When  at 
last  they  lay  down  in  their  blankets  Raoul's 
melancholy  had  vanished  and  he  put  himself  to 
sleep  by  repeating  the  words  of  affection  La 
Salle  had  spoken  to  him. 

The  next  morning  Saget  returned  with  the 
message  that  he  had  found  the  cache,  but  that 
the  provisions  in  it  had  rotted.  However,  they 
had  had  great  luck  and  had  killed  some  buffalo 
and  were  waiting  for  the  horses  to  bring  the 
meat  back  to  camp. 

"Go,  Moranget,"  La  Salle  commanded  his 
nephew,  "you  and  Merle  and  Saget  take  the 
horses  and  hasten,  for  we  are  all  waiting  hungrily 
for  the  feast." 


CHAPTER  XX 

THE  PIGMIES  AND  THE  GIANT 

"TT  is  good  to  be  away  by  ourselves,"  re- 
-••  marked  Duhaut  to  Liotot  as  they  were 
cutting  up  the  buffalo  meat  and  hanging  it  up 
to  dry,  "good  not  to  see  the  stern  mouth  and 
eyes  of  our  commander,  nor  have  to  listen  to 
the  overbearing  insolence  of  that  sprig  of  a 
Moranget.  But  never  mind,  our  time  will  come." 

"Hush!  comrade,"  warned  Liotot.  "You  are 
not  yet  sure  of  the  others.  There's  no  hurry. 
We  may  lack  food  and  clothes  in  this  wilderness, 
but  of  time  we  have  enough  and  to  waste." 

Nevertheless,  Duhaut  continued,  but  in  a 
lower  voice,  "I  am  getting  tired  of  waiting.  I 
cannot  bear  their  insolence  much  longer.  When 

291 


292          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

we  have  .  .  .  had  our  way,"  he  laughed,  "we 
can  rule  the  colony  as  we  will  and  you,  a  sur 
geon,  ought  to  be  learned  enough  to  supply  the 
wits  while  I  will  provide  the  force." 

"Here  comes  Hiems,"  interrupted  the  sur 
geon;  "have  you  sounded  him?" 

The  German  adventurer  was  sucking  the  meat 
from  a  marrow-bone  still  too  hot  for  his  hands 
to  hold  comfortably.  He  strolled  lazily  towards 
the  others,  but  did  not  offer  to  help  them  in  their 
work.  "  Tis  a  pity  we  can't  keep  all  of  this 
meat  for  ourselves,"  he  remarked,  a  greedy  smile 
on  his  fat  face.  "It  would  fill  our  bellies  well, 
but  when  it  is  divided  with  them  back  yonder 
there  will  be  but  a  small  portion  for  each,  and 
we  shall  soon  all  be  hungry  again." 

"  'T  would  be  well  an'  there  were  fewer  of 
us,  you  think?"  queried  Duhaut  with  a  side 
long  glance. 

"There's  one  I  could  do  without,"  Heims  re 
plied,  throwing  the  empty  bone  away,  "and 
that's  young  Moranget.  The  uncle's  bad  enough, 
but  the  nephew's  worse.  He's  repaid  you  well, 
Surgeon,  with  insults  for  all  your  care  when 
he  was  ill." 

"I  love  him  not,"  Liotot  assented  dryly. 

"But  our  dislike  will  not  drive  him  from  us," 
said  Duaut,  determined  now  to  test  Hiems. 


THE   PIGMIES  AND  THE  GIANT  293 

"Then  why  not  try  other  means?"  asked  the 
German. 

The  three  drew  closer  together  and,  after 
looking  about  to  make  sure  they  were  not  over 
heard,  began  to  discuss  the  matter.  They  aired 
all  their  grievances  against  La  Salle  and  Moran- 
get,  and  at  last  came  to  the  conclusion  that  they 
would  gradually  win  to  them  as  many  of  the 
colonists  as  were  disaffected  and,  when  fit  occa 
sion  should  arise,  they  would  make  the  two 
prisoners  and  take  charge  of  the  colony. 

They  had  scarcely  done  talking  when  the  sound 
of  horses'  hoofs  brought  the  rest  of  their  com 
panions  to  them. 

"Ho!  there!"  cried  Moranget,  riding  into  the 
open  space,  followed  by  De  Marie  and  Saget. 
"Hurry  and  pack  the  meat,  for  by  dawn  we  must 
load  and  start  back  to  the  camp.  You  don't 
seem  to  have  speeded  yourselves,"  he  added  con 
temptuously,  as  he  sprang  from  his  horse  and 
examined  the  strips  of  meat  hanging  up  to  dry." 

"Time  enough,"  grunted  Hiems. 

"And  where  are  the  marrow-bones  and  the 
choicest  bits  of  the  meat?"  questioned  Moranget, 
making  a  second  examination. 

"Those  are  our  own,"  Liotot  answered,  "by 
right  of  ancient  woodland  custom." 

There  was  a  veiled  insolence  in  his  answer 


294          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

which  did  not  escape  the  young  nobleman.  "You 
have  no  such  right,"  he  blazed  out;  "it  is  my 
uncle  who  will  divide  it  all  as  he  sees  fit.  Where 
is  it,  scoundrels?" 

No  one  answered.  He  turned  to  Nika.  "Find 
it,  Nika,  and  you  and  Saget  bring  it  here." 

The  Indian  and  the  Frenchman  returned  in  a 
few  minutes,  bearing  a  portion  of  the  reserved 
dainties,  and  made  other  trips  until  it  was  all  piled 
at  Moranget's  feet.  There  was  no  word  of  pro 
test  spoken,  but  on  every  face  was  a  look  like 
that  of  a  dog  that  has  seen  his  bone  taken  away 
from  him  and  does  not  dare  bite.  Then  Mo- 
ranget  lay  down  to  rest  while  the  horses  were 
unbridled  and  watered  and  dinner  was  cooking. 

Duhaut,  Liotot  and  Hiems  strolled  off,  one 
after  the  other,  then  FArchiveque  and  all  of  the 
others,  except  the  cook  and  Nika,  as  if  moved 
by  the  same  impulse. 

"Why  wait  longer?"  asked  Duhaut  when  they 
were  assembled  a  quarter  of  a  mile  off.  He 
spoke  as  if  he  had  already  discussed  the  matter 
with  them  all,  but  the  look  in  their  eyes  had  told 
him  what  he  wanted  to  know  and  that  it  was  safe 
to  assume  that  they  shared  his  feelings.  "Shall  it 
be  to-night?" 

Liotot  studied  the  ground  as  if  it  were  a  book, 
then  he  looked  up  and  said :  "What  use  in  ridding 


THE  PIGMIES  AND  THE  GIANT  295 

ourselves  of  the  nephew  if  the  uncle  is  left  to 
punish  us?" 

"Then,  in  the  devil's  name,  the  uncle  as  well!" 
cried  Duhaut. 

When  dinner  was  over  and  the  fire  out  all  was 
quiet  in  the  camp  and  all  slept  except  Moranget 
who  had  the  first  watch.  When  he  had  paced 
back  and  forth  for  an  hour  he  roused  Saget,  who 
an  hour  later  called  Nika.  When  the  Indian  in 
his  turn  had  called  his  successor  and  fallen 
asleep,  the  conspirators  arose. 

The  starlight  showed  faintly  the  barrels  of  the 
muskets  of  those  who  formed  a  circle  about  the 
sleepers  and  on  the  axe  in  the  hand  of  the  sur 
geon,  the  hand  which  in  France  had  used  no  other 
weapons  than  those  of  mercy. 

"The  Indian  first,"  Duhaut  had  counselled; 
"he  sleeps  more  lightly." 

One  blow  on  the  head,  and  Nika  passed  from 
dreams  of  hunting  to  the  Indian  happy  hunting 
grounds.  Another  blow,  and  Saget,  La  Salle's 
faithful  servant,  groaned  his  last.  Liotot 
brought  his  axe  down  on  the  thick  hair  of  Mo 
ranget,  but  whether  his  arm  was  fatigued  or 
whether  the  blade  turned,  the  blow  had  not  the 
force  of  the  first  two.  The  young  nobleman, 
instinctively  fighting  for  life,  sat  up  and  cried 
out. 


296          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

"Finish  him,"  cried  Liotot,  thrusting  the  axe 
into  Marie's  hand.  A  second  blow  from  the 
latter  and  Moranget  fell  back  across  Nika's 
body. 

When  two  days  had  passed  and  Moranget 
had  not  returned,  La  Salle  grew  anxious.  "To 
morrow  morning  we  will  go  in  search  of  them, 
Joutel,"  he  said.  "I  wonder  what  has  happened, 
and  somehow  my  mind  is  not  easy.  It  does  not 
seem  possible  that  my  nephew  could  not  find 
them,  and  he  knows  how  urgent  is  our  need  of 
the  meat  and  surely  would  not  tarry  so  long 
unless  .  .  .  Joutel,  do  you  think  they  would 
harm  him?  Have  you  any  idea  that  they  plot 
against  me?  I  may  do  him  wrong,  yet  I  admit 
that  I  trust  not  Duhaut." 

"Nor  I,  Seigneur,"  answered  Joutel.  "I  have 
seen  no  evidence  of  treachery  but  I  have  often 
heard  them  complain  of  being  found  fault  with, 
though  we  know  how  necessary  that  was  for  the 
sake  of  discipline." 

"I  fear  Moranget  is  not  liked  by  the  men," 
La  Salle  remarked  gravely,  "and  in  truth  I  my 
self  like  not  the  manners  of  my  nephew.  Raoul's 
way  is  better;  when  he  is  in  authority  he  will 
know  well  how  to  handle  men."  Then  later  on 
he  added:  "I  am  uneasy,  Joutel." 

When  morning  came  La  Salle  changed  his 


THE  PIGMIES  AND  THE  GIANT  297 

mind.      "You  stay  here,  Joutel,"  he  ordered. 
Father  Douay  will  accompany  me." 

"I  am  going  with  you  too,  Seigneur,"  Raoul 
begged,  but  La  Salle  shook  his  head.  "Nay,  son, 
you  will  obey  my  command.  Au  revoir,  Raoul, 
and  have  things  ready  for  the  feast." 

Raoul  watched  the  two  and  the  Indian  guide 
disappear  into  the  forest.  Then  he  sat  there  in 
the  sunlight,  the  world  warm  and  gay  about  him, 
the  birds  singing  and  the  little  woodland  folk 
hurrying  about  their  business,  but  a  black  cloud 
seemed  to  hide  it  all  from  him.  He  had  not  over 
heard  the  talk  the  evening  before  between  La 
Salle  and  Joutel  and  did  not  know  of  their 
anxiety.  But  he  felt  some  dire  disaster  was  ap 
proaching  and  could  not  throw  off  the  presenti 
ment.  Not  for  years  had  he  disobeyed  a  com 
mand  of  the  Seigneur  and  the  habit  of  obedience 
was  now  hard  to  break.  He  rose  at  last,  cleaned 
his  gun,  and  set  off,  running  along  the  trail  La 
Salle  had  taken  an  hour  before. 

It  was  another  hour  before  he  caught  sight  of 
them.  He  had  not  the  courage  to  face  his 
master,  and  now  that  he  saw  that  all  was  well 
with  him,  he  was  on  the  point  of  turning  back. 
But  he  could  see  that  the  friar  and  La  Salle  were 
in  earnest  conversation  and  he  caught  a  few 
words  in  the  sonorous  voice  of  the  former,  which 


298          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

carried  far  through  the  silent  forest:  "God  be 
praised  for  the  state  of  grace  in  which  you  stand, 
Seigneur  La  Salle.  A  man  who  was  about  to 
die  could  not  be  more  prepared  than  you  are." 

"A  man  about  to  die!"  The  words  echoed  in 
Raoul's  heart  like  a  knell,  and  he  moved  on 
ward,  far  enough  behind  to  keep  the  others  in 
sight,  yet  with  no  danger  that  his  footsteps  might 
betray  his  presence  to  them. 

As  he  advanced,  the  uncertainty  of  the  situa 
tion  weighed  more  and  more  on  La  Salle's  mind. 
Bit  by  bit,  he  was  remembering  all  the  dark 
looks,  the  surly  words  and  the  discontent  which 
had  been  daily  increasing.  A  feeling  of  great 
discouragement  crept  over  his  brave  spirit,  a 
mood  against  which  he  seemed  unable  to  struggle 
as  he  had  always  forced  himself  to  struggle 
against  depression.  Never  yet,  he  said  to  him 
self,  had  he  failed  in  the  end  to  bend  men  to  his 
will.  Truly  then,  his  body  must  be  poisoned  by 
fever  or  miasma  if  now  he  could  not  throw  off 
this  weight  of  an  approaching  calamity.  If  any 
thing  had  happened  to  his  nephew,  he  thought; 
if  those  men  whom  he  had  always  distrusted,  yet 
whom  he  had  been  obliged  to  make  use  of,  had 
injured  or  killed  Moranget,  he  must  treat  them 
with  the  utmost  severity.  He  had  no  thought  of 
any  fear  for  himself;  his  one  thought  was  to 


THE  PIGMIES  AND  THE  GIANT  299 

hasten  for  help  for  the  men  and  women  he  had 
left  behind  him  in  the  colony. 

He  hurried  onward,  eager  now  to  put  an  end 
to  the  uncertainty — he  could  not  be  far  from  the 
place,  and  Raoul,  too,  quickened  his  steps  in 
order  not  to  widen  the  distance  between  them. 

A  stre<am  came  in  sight  and  the  Indian  pointed 
out  that  the  camp  was  on  its  opposite  bank.  La 
Salle  hastened  forward  and  caught  sight  of 
1'Archiveque,  standing  on  the  other  side  of  the 
water. 

"Where  is  Moranget?"  he  cried  out  as  he  ap 
proached. 

L'Archiveque  looked  across  with  an  insolent 
air  as  if  the  questioner  were  of  no  importance 
and  replied:  "Oh!  wandering  about  somewhere. 
It's  none  of  my  business." 

Never  before  had  one  of  his  men  spoken  to 
him  thus.  Had  he  but  taken  time  to  notice,  La 
Salle  would  have  realized  that  this  insolence  was 
the  very  trumpet  call  of  rebellion.  "How  dare 
you  answer  me  in  such  a  manner?"  he  called  out 
angrily,  approaching  nearer  to  the  ambush  where 
Duhaut  and  Liotot  were  hidden.  "Go  at  once 
and  find  my  nephew  and  inform  him  that  I  am 
here." 

Raoul's  ears  had  caught  the  tone,  though  not 
the  words  of  1'Archiveque,  and  he  knew  that  it 


300          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

betokened  something  wrong.  He  ran  forward, 
no  longer  fearing  to  be  reproached,  his  one  idea 
to  be  at  his  master's  side  in  this  moment  of 
danger.  When  he  was  within  twenty  paces  of 
La  Salle  he  saw  on  the  other  side  of  the  stream 
two  musket  barrels  shoving  aside  the  long  grass. 
He  stood  still,  paralyzed  with  fear  at  the  calamity 
he  could  do  nothing  to  avert.  At  the  same  in 
stant  he  heard  a  report  and  saw  the  Seigneur 
waver  and  fall.  Then  he  rushed  on,  his  own  gun 
pointed  across  the  stream,  but  did  not  take  time 
to  fire  in  his  eagerness  to  reach  his  master. 

The  wounded  man  gave  a  smile  when  he  saw 
Raoul's  face  bending  over  him  and  moved  the 
hand  which  had  been  clapped  over  the  spot  from 
which  the  blood  was  spurting,  to  clasp  that  of  the 
youth. 

"Seigneur!"  sobbed  Raoul,  and  kissed  it,  red 
dening  his  lips  with  its  tragic  moisture. 

"Farewell,  dear  son,"  La  Salle  spoke  firmly: 
"Hasten  before  they  kill  you  also.  You  must 
live  to  carry  on  my  work.  You  alone  of  all  those 
who  have  been  with  me  have  had  the  vision  to  see 
the  greatness  of  it." 

His  voice  grew  weaker  and  he  gestured  with 
his  hand  for  Raoul  to  flee. 

"No,  no,  Seigneur,"  he  remonstrated.    "I  can- 


THE   PIGMIES  AND  THE  GIANT  301 

not  leave  you  now,  but  if  I  live  I  vow  to  you  that 
I  will  follow  as  far  as  I  may  in  your  footsteps." 

La  Salle's  head  sank  back  on  the  strong  young 
breast  and  he  murmured:  "Thanks,  my  son." 

Then  he  was  gone. 

The  murderers,  who  for  a  moment  startled  at 
the  effect  of  their  shot,  had  been  gazing  at  the 
giant's  deathbed,  now  jumped  across  the  stream. 
Raoul,  whose  arms  were  still  encumbered  by  La 
Salle's  body,  could  make  no  resistenee  to  the 
blow  Liotot  gave  him  with  the  butt  of  his  gun. 

Luckily  for  him  he  could  not  see  nor  hear  what 
followed  .  .  .  the  terror-stricken  countenance 
of  Father  Douay  beneath  the  veil  of  the  thick 
grey  moss  hanging  from  the  trees,  the  cries  from 
the  murderers  that  the  friar  had  nothing  to  fear 
from  them;  the  rushing  together  of  the  con 
spirators  who,  like  wild  beasts,  flocked  around 
their  victim.  Luckily  he  could  not  see  Liotot  as 
he  kicked  the  body  of  the  man  whose  greatness 
he  could  not  measure,  nor  hear  him  cry  out  mock 
ingly,  "There  thou  liest,  great  Bashaw!  There 
thouliest!" 

Stripped  and  naked,  they  dragged  the  dead 
giant  about  and  threw  him  into  the  bushes,  grant 
ing  him  not  even  the  decency  of  a  burial. 
Lucky,  indeed,  was  Raoul  that  he  knew  nothing 
of  all  this  till  days  after,  when  Father  Douay 


302          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

and  the  Indian  had  borne  him  back  to  the  camp 
where  Joutel  and  Abbe  Cavelier  needed  no  more 
than  the  friar's  panic-stricken  face  to  tell  them 
that  they  had  lost  their  commander  and  their 
brother. 


CHAPTER  XXI 
RAOUL'S  DECISION 

THE  sunlight  was  creeping  through  the 
opening  of  the  wigwam  and  flecking  the 
eastern  floor  beneath  the  smoke  hole.  The  eyes 
of  the  sick  man  followed  it  and  seemed  to  be 
trying  to  read  the  shadows  of  leaves  and  branches 
as  if  they  were  words  in  a  book  which  could  tell 
him  what  he  wanted  to  know.  But  he  was  un 
able  to  make  out  their  message  and  his  head 
sank  back  wearily.  After  a  while  the  sunlight, 
striking  direct  upon  his  face,  roused  him  again. 
His  eyes  opened  and  wandered  about  the  wig 
wam,  passing  over  the  hearth  in  the  centre  where 
faggots  were  laid  ready  for  the  lighting,  the 
pile  of  mats  and  skins  that  marked  another  bed 
such  as  the  one  he  rested  on,  poles  from  which 
dangled  strips  of  dried  meat,  and  a  bow  and  a 


304          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

quiver  lying  on  the  ground.  At  these  he  looked 
as  if  they  did  not  exist,  but  his  eyes  widened 
questioningly  when  they  saw  a  sunbeam  fall  on 
the  stock  of  two  guns  resting  against  one  of  the 
tree  trunks  which  formed  the  frame  support  of 
the  wigwam.  These  and  the  powder  horn  re 
called  something  indistinct,  something  which  he 
felt  dimly  he  had  known  about  in  another  life. 
When  one  didn't  know  anything  of  one's  present 
existence,  name  or  place,  why  should  one's  tired 
brain  try  to  chase  facts  that  hid  in  the  past? 
Some  vague  feeling  of  this  sort  worried  him,  yet 
he  still  made  an  effort  to  think  what  those  guns 
recalled.  He  sat  up,  though  his  weak  body 
wavered  from  side  to  side  and  looked  at  them. 
Then  he  uttered  a  cry,  for  he  remembered  .  .  . 
a  gun  half  hidden  by  long  grass,  a  stream,  and 
then  a  tall  man  whose  body  broke  a  flowering 
alder  bush  as  it  fell. 

"Seigneur!"  he  cried,  and  this  was  the  first 
word  he  had  spoken  for  six  weeks. 

Bit  by  bit  it  came  back  to  him  more  or  less 
clearly  that  he  who  lay  here  was  Raoul  de  Lar- 
nac,  a  man  now.  He  remembered  best  of  all  the 
murder  and  the  few  minutes  which  preceded  it. 
He  remembered  that  he  himself  had  been 
wounded,  though  it  had  been  only  a  flesh  wound, 
and  even  a  day  later,  he  had  been  able  to  walk 


RAOUL'S  DECISION  305 

with  a  bandaged  head.  He  remembered  Joutel 
and  Abbe  Cavelier  and  Father  Douay,  and  how 
he  with  them  had  sworn  that  they  would  escape 
from  the  murderers  at  the  first  opportunity.  He 
felt  again  the  thrill  of  horror  than  ran  through 
him  whenever  on  their  long  march  northward  he 
had  looked  at  Duhaut  and  Liotot  and  1'Archi- 
veque.  He  was  not  afraid  that  they  miglft  kill 
him,  as  were  Abbe  Cavelier  and  good  Joutel;  he 
was  so  miserable  without  the  Seigneur  that  he 
rather  hoped  they  would.  The  details  of  the 
journey  were  all  blurred  in  his  mind;  he  recalled 
little  beyond  a  great  feeling  of  effort  and  fatigue 
and  a  sound  in  his  ears  of  constant  quarreling. 
Then  one  more  memory  emerged  distinct — of 
German  Hiems  who  had  quarrelled  with  Duhaut 
and  killed  him  with  a  pistol  shot  the  same  mo 
ment  that  Liotot  was  killed  by  another  of  his 
companions.  After  this  he  remembered  nothing, 
and  his  brain  ached  now  with  the  strain  he  had 
put  upon  it. 

He  heard  footsteps  approaching,  and  did  not 
know  whether  he  ought  to  be  frightened  or  glad. 
A  tall  Indian  entered  and  smiled  as  he  looked 
into  the  open  eyes. 

"The  fever  has  left  White  Thrush;"  he  ex 
claimed  as  he  laid  his  hand  on  the  white  man's 


306          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

forehead.  Raoul  tried  for  a  moment  to  recol 
lect,  then  said: 

"Beaver  Tail.  Is  it  Beaver  Tail?  Where 
are  we?" 

"Safe  alone  in  the  forest,"  the  Indian  an 
swered.  "You  have  been  ill  for  over  two  moons 
now.  For  a  time  you  walked  along  with  us  and 
we  knew  not  that  there  was  anything  wrong  with 
you.  Later  on  we  knew,  but  dared  not  stop  or 
leave  you.  Then  when  J  out  el  and  the  Abbe  were 
eager  to  hurry  on  to  Fort  St.  Louis,  I  stayed  be 
hind  with  you  because  you  could  walk  no  far 
ther." 

"Beaver  Tail  is  a  friend  to  White  Thrush," 
Raoul  said,  speaking  slowly. 

"Why  not?"  asked  the  Indian;  "were  you  not 
a  son  to  the  Great  Chief?  He  would  be  sad  if  I 
did  not  care  for  you  until  I  have  guided  you  to 
your  own  people." 

The  Indian  then  lighted  the  fire,  filled  the 
gourds  with  meat  and  water  and  spoke  no  more 
until  he  had  prepared  a  soup  which  he  made 
Raoul  drink.  "To-morrow,"  he  said,  "you  shall 
have  fresh  meat  to  give  you  new  strength.  I 
have  killed  a  turkey  and  I  will  sit  in  the  sunshine 
and  pluck  it  while  you  sleep  again." 

The  next  day,  to  Raoul's  amazement,  and  to 
Beaver  Tail's  delight,  the  invalid  was  able  to 


RAOUL'S  DECISION  307 

walk  a  few  steps;  so  rapid  was  his  recovery  that 
it  seemed  as  if  his  strength  had  only  waited  for 
the  fever  to  depart  that  it  might  return  with 
double  force.  But  it  was  only  his  body  that  was 
strong;  his  spirit  was  still  listless. 

When  he  was  strong  enough  to  join  Beaver 
Tail  in  his  hunt  for  game  the  Indian  asked: 
"Shall  we  not  soon  be  journeying  on,  White 
Thrush?" 

And  Raoul,  as  if  the  question  were  too  momen 
tous  to  answer,  replied:  "I  do  not  know.  Where 
can  we  go?" 

The  Indian  was  patient.  He  had  seen  a  beast 
that  had  been  wounded  in  a  trap  licking  a  broken 
paw  until  it  healed  slowly,  and  he  knew  that 
Raoul's  spirit  had  need  of  time  to  recover.  But 
one  day  later  when  he  had  put  the  question  and 
received  the  same  answer,  he  said:  "White 
Thrush  is  now  a  man,  and  a  man  is  not  like  a 
papoose.  He  knows  what  trail  he  must  follow." 

"A  man!"  This  reality  came  to  Raoul  for 
almost  the  first  time.  In  truth,  he  was  a  man  of 
twenty  years.  As  long  as  La  Salle  had  lived 
and  treated  him  like  a  son  he  had  seemed  to  him 
self  but  a  boy  whose  life  was  regulated  by  an 
other,  who  had  no  big  decisions  to  make.  Now, 
he  realized,  the  time  had  come  when  he  must 
stand  alone,  when  there  was  no  one  living  who 


308          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

could  direct  his  goings  and  comings.  He  felt 
suddenly  cold  and  fearful  as  he  had  felt  as  a  very 
little  boy  when  he  was  left  alone  at  night  in  the 
dark.  In  thought,  as  then  in  fact,  he  instinctively 
turned  to  his  elder  brothers  for  protection,  and  he 
wondered  whether  he  might  not  be  happy  as  they 
were  to  live  in  France  in  the  gay  crowd  of  the 
court. 

From  the  boulder  where  he  sat  on  the  side  of  a 
hill  he  could  look  for  miles  over  the  prairie  below. 
A  herd  of  buffalo  dashed  across  the  plain,  for 
what  cause  he  could  not  tell.  A  little  to  his  right 
an  eagle  was  soaring  into  the  clear  sky  and  the 
sunshine  striking  his  breast,  turned  the  feathers 
to  gold.  Something  seemed  to  break  within 
Raoul  and  something  new  to  rush  in  and  take 
its  place.  He  sprang  to  his  feet  and  flung  his 
arms  above  his  head  as  if  he  would  reach  up  to 
the  eagle.  Then  he  waved  his  hand  to  the  buffalo 
and  cried  out:  "Run,  brothers,  run.  This  is  our 
world,  the  world  of  unchained  beasts  and  of  free 
men!" 

He  hastened  to  the  wigwam  where  he  found 
Beaver  Tail  smoking.  "To-morrow  morning, 
Beaver  Tail,"  he  said,  "we  shall  start  north.  I 
have  slept  long,  but  now  I  am  awake.  We  will 
follow  the  trail  of  Joutel  until  we  find  Sieur 
Tonty." 


IN  His  NEW- FOUND  STRENGTH  RAOUL  ENJOYED  THE 

DAYS  OF  JOURNEYINGS. 


RAOUL'S  DECISION  309 

"White  Thrush,  the  Chief,  has  spoken,"  re 
plied  the  Indian,  his  eyes  bright  with  pleasure. 

In  his  new-found  strength  and  manhood  Raoul 
once  more  enjoyed  the  days  of  journeyings,  the 
finding  the  way  through  forests  to  the  river;  the 
bargaining  with  friendly  Indians  for  a  canoe ;  the 
movement  of  the  boat;  the  river  life,  and  the 
quiet  companionship  of  Beaver  Tail.  They 
talked  often  of  La  Salle,  of  his  greatness,  which 
had  been  more  patent  to  the  Indian  than  to  many 
of  the  colonists;  of  the  affection  he  had  always 
shown  for  both  of  them. 

It  was  a  long  trip  up  the  Great  River,  and 
sometimes  it  seemed  to  Raoul  as  if  Fort  St. 
Louis,  where  they  hoped  to  find  Tonty,  must  be 
a  dream  fort  that  retreated  as  fast  as  they  ad 
vanced.  Yet  they  were  now  passing  many  land 
marks  which  brought  back  memories  of  La  Salle. 

It  was  a  summer  day  when  at  last  they  saw 
the  Rock  ahead  of  them.  At  the  sight 
of  the  Lilies  of  France,  Raoul  cried  out  in  de 
light;  the  sentinel  above  heard  him  and  when 
they  landed  below  a  crowd  of  Indians  and 
Frenchmen  was  there  to  meet  them.  Many  of 
them  greeted  Beaver  Tail  as  an  old  friend,  but 
at  first  no  one  recognized  Raoul.  Then  Etienne, 
who  had  been  looking  at  him  searchingly,  slapped 
him  on  the  shoulders  and  exclaimed:  "Is  this 


310          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

you,  my  Raoul?    All  ye  saints!  what  a  man!" 

Raoul  clasped  his  hand  so  firmly  that  the  old 
woodsman  almost  winced.  "Yes,  it  is  Raoul, 
old  Cooncap,  and  glad  to  see  the  face  of  a  friend 
again.  Where  is  Sieur  Tonty?  I  would  report 
to  him  at  once.  And  is  Joutel  here  and  Abbe 
Cavelier?  And  how  have  you  kept  all  these 
many  moons  since  we  sailed  for  France?" 

"Have  you  not  spoken  French  for  so  long 
that  it  is  all  bottled  up?"  exclaimed  Etienne;  "so 
many  questions  at  once!  You'll  find  Tonty 
above  at  the  fort  and  Joutel  and  the  Abbe  left 
us  in  the  spring  to  return  to  France,  and  as  you 
see,  the  wolves  have  not  eaten  old  Etienne  yet." 

Raoul  ran  all  the  way  up  the  Rock,  his  eager 
ness  now  to  see  Tonty  urging  him  on.  The  sen 
tinel,  after  a  glance  to  make  sure  that  it  was  a 
Frenchman  and  no  strange  Indian  in  the  buck 
skin  garments,  admitted  him  into  the  fort  and 
told  him  that  he  would  find  the  commander  in 
the  largest  of  the  wooden  cabins. 

Tonty  sat  alone  at  a  table,  writing,  his  iron 
hand  resting  on  a  stack  of  papers.  He  looked  up 
at  the  sound  of  the  opening  door,  and  rose  as 
Raoul  entered  and  came  towards  him  with  out 
stretched  hands. 

"Is  it  indeed  little  Raoul?"  he  asked,  his  soft 
deep  voice  full  of  affection.  "It  is  good  to  see 


RAOUL'S  DECISION  311 

you  again.  Joutel  told  me  how  he  had  had  to 
leave  you  behind  on  the  journey." 

"It  is  indeed  good  to  be  back  here,  Sieur 
Tonty,"  Raoul  remarked,  seating  himself  in  the 
first  chair  in  which  he  had  sat  for  many  months ; 
"yet  it  makes  me  sad,  too,  when  every  bit  of 
ground  here,  every  log  in  the  forest  reminds  me 
of  the  Seigneur." 

"Do  you  miss  him  then  so  much?"  asked  the 
Italian.  "Is  Raoul,  the  man,  as  loyal  and  de 
voted  a  follower  as  was  Raoul,  the  lad,  who  first 
followed  his  fortunes?" 

"Could  I  ever  forget  him?"  Raoul  replied,  al 
most  angry  at  the  question. 

"It  must  be  a  great  pleasure  to  him  to  receive 
such  affection,"  said  Tonty  wistfully.  "But  tell 
me  what  news  you  have  of  him  now  and  when  we 
may  expect  him  here?" 

"Expect  him!"  cried  Raoul  in  amazement. 

"Surely  it  will  not  be  long?"  said  Tonty. 

Raoul  leaned  his  elbows  on  the  table  and 
looked  across  at  his  companion.  "Do  you  mean," 
he  asked,  "that  you  have  not  heard?" 

"Yea,"  answered  Tonty,  speaking  so  quickly 
that  Raoul  had  no  opportunity  to  interrupt,  "I 
heard  that  my  friend  had  sailed  from  France, 
that  he  had  landed  on  the  shores  of  the  Gulf,  and 
that  his  colony  suffered  one  misfortune  after 


312    WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

the  other.  I  knew  that  he  was  in  dire  straits  and 
in  need  of  assistance.  Could  I  then  sit  still  and 
not  go  to  his  aid?  I  set  forth  with  a  party  of 
twenty-five  men  and  eleven  Indians,  and  again 
I  descended  the  river  we  three  had  first  travelled 
together." 

"How  far  did  you  get?"  inquired  Raoul. 

"All  the  way  to  the  Gulf,  but  I  found  no  sign, 
though  I  searched  long  both  to  the  east  and  to 
the  west  of  the  river." 

"Nay,  it  was  God's — or  the  devil's — will," 
Raoul  explained,  "that  we  were  led  far  to  the 
west  of  you.  And  then?" 

"Then,"  answered  Tonty,  "after  I  had  re 
mained  as  long  as  I  could,  I  wrote  a  letter  to 
La  Salle  and  left  it  with  an  Indian  chief  to  give 
to  the  Seigneur  when  he  should  appear,  and  I 
travelled  sadly  northward  again." 

"But  when  Abbe  Cavelier  and  Joutel  reached 
here,"  Raoul  continued,  "surely  they  told  you 
all  that  had  happened?" 

"They  stayed  with  me  through  the  winter  and 
I  was  glad  to  hear  that  they  had  left  La  Salle  in 
good  health,  but  .  .  ." 

ffln  good  health!"  shouted  Raoul,  "good 
health !  Did  they  not  tell  you  he  was  murdered?" 

The  room  was  suddenly  quiet.  The  two  men 
gazed  steadily  at  each  other,  questions  in  both 


RAOUL'S  DECISION  313 

pair  of  eyes.  Finally  Tonty  said  slowly:  "La 
Salle  .  .  .  my  friend  .  .  .  murdered!  Ah! 
Raoul,  say  that  it  is  your  fever  that  makes  you 
still  delirious." 

"Would  God  that  were  indeed  so,"  Raoul 
groaned. 

"Tell  me  all,"  begged  Tonty,  rising  and  walk 
ing  around  the  table  to  the  other's  side.  He 
listened  in  silence  to  the  story  of  treachery,  his 
sensitive  mouth  alone  betraying  his  emotion. 

"But  what  meant  his  brother,  the  Abbe,  by  his 
deception?"  cried  Raoul  when  he  had  finished  his 
tragic  account.  "I  never  liked  him,  though  he 
was  the  Seigneur's  brother;  but  Joutel,  faithful 
Joutel,  why  should  he  lie,  too?" 

"I  think  I  understand  the  Abbe's  reason," 
Tonty  remarked.  "He  wished  to  get  hold  of 
what  was  left  of  his  brother's  possessions  both 
here  and  in  France  before  news  of  his  death 
would  make  the  creditors  seize  them;  but  I  do 
not  know  why  Joutel,  if  he  were  inded  the  loyal 
man  you  believe  him,  should  have  shared  his  de 
ceit." 

"I  think  perhaps  I  can  explain,"  said  Raoul, 
after  a  little  thought.  "If  when  he  arrived  in 
France,  the  King  should  believe  the  Seigneur 
still  alive,  His  Majesty  would  be  more  willing 
to  send  succor  to  him  and  the  colony.  And  Jou- 


314          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

tel  would  still  have  the  good  of  the  colony  at 
heart.  God  knows  what  may  have  become  of 
it  by  now!" 

Each  was  lost  in  his  sad  thoughts.  At  last 
Tonty  roused  himself  and  asked:  And  what 
will  you  do  now,  Raoul — go  back  to  France?" 

Before  Raoul  could  answer,  the  door  opened 
and  on  the  threshold  stood  an  Indian  brave, 
young  and  tall.  "White  Thrush!"  he  cried, 
"Swift  Fox  has  come  to  greet  you  on  your  re 
turn." 

Raoul' s  pleasure  was  no  less  than  that  of  his 
old  companion.  So  busy  was  he  telling  what  had 
happened  since  they  parted  that  he  did  not  notice 
that  Tonty  had  quitted  the  room,  and  left  them 
alone. 

"And  has  Swift  Fox  been  on  the  warpath 
against  the  Iroquois?"  he  asked;  and  the  Indian 
pointed  to  a  scalp-lock  at  his  belt.  "I  have  kept 
my  promise,  too,  White  Thrush,"  he  added.  "I 
have  served  Chief  Tonty  and  with  him  I 
journeyed  down  the  Great  River  in  search  of 
you."  ' 

"That  is  well,  my  friend,"  remarked  Raoul, 
observing  the  fine,  strong  body  before  him.  "Let 
us  go  out  into  the  air  and  talk.  I  cannot  breathe 
long  indoors." 

He  told  the  Indian  the  story  of  all  that  had 


RAOUL'S  DECISION  315 

happened  since  they  parted  and  especially  of 
La  Salle's  murder,  and  he  listened  in  turn  to 
Swift  Fox's  narration  of  his  first  war  foray  and 
how  he  had  won  his  eagle  feather.  Tonty  joined 
them  as  they  strolled  along  within  the  limits  of 
the  palisaded  fort.  It  pleased  the  Italian  to 
look  at  two  such  perfect  specimens  of  manhood, 
and  the  memory  of  many  famous  sculptures  of 
athletes  in  his  own  country  made  him  wish  that 
he  were  sculptor  so  that  he  could  put  into 
bronze  or  marble  the  contrast  of  their  two  types. 

"What  will  you  do  now,  Raoul?"  he  asked, 
"return  to  France?  You  did  not  answer  me  be 
fore." 

"My  lot  is  in  the  New  World,"  Raoul  an 
swered  in  French,  and  then  repeated  his  words 
in  the  Indian  tongue  for  the  benefit  of  Swift 
Fox.  "I  promised  the  Seigneur  that  I  would  try 
to  do  my  best  in  building  up  for  France  the  great 
empire  he  dreamed  of  and  began." 

"I  am  glad,"  Tonty  exclaimed,  smiling  at  him. 
"This  new  land  has  given  you  much;  now  you 
must  pay  back.  But  what  will  you  do  first — go 
to  Quebec  and  ask  the  Governor  for  some  posi 
tion,  or  may  I  hope  that  you  will  remain  with 
me?" 

"If  you  ever  have  need  of  me,  Sieur  Tonty, 
you  have  only  to  send  for  me  and  I  will  come," 


816          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

Raoul  replied.  "But  just  now  I  am  eager  to 
undertake  a  quest  which  has  been  waiting  for  me 
many  years.  Do  you  recall  my  story  of  how  I 
was  carried  off  by  the  Senecas  and  with  me  a 
little  French  maiden,  Denise  Dubois?" 

Tonty  nodded.  Swift  Fox,  though  he  could 
understand  a  fair  amount  of  French,  was  appar 
ently  uninterested  in  the  conversation.  His 
thoughts  were  elsewhere;  he  seemed  to  be  listen 
ing  to  some  sound  which  the  others  had  not 
caught.  Raoul  continued: 

"I  have  always  felt  sure  that  the  little  girl 
must  be  alive.  Once  I  heard  of  her  through 
Black  Duck,  the  Huron  hunter,  and  once  I  saw 
her  myself  for  an  instant  but  could  not  stop.  I 
knew  that  it  was  my  duty  to  rescue  her  from  cap 
tivity  and  take  her  back  to  her  family;  but  my 
duty  to  the  Seigneur  came  first.  Now  alas,  that 
claims  me  no  longer,  and  I  shall  try  to  find  her." 

Swift  Fox  had  become  certain  that  the  call  he 
had  heard  was  a  human  call  and  not  that  of  the 
dog  it  imitated.  He  sprang  towards  the  gate  and 
a  few  moments  later  came  back  to  Tonty  and 
Raoul. 

"The  Iroquois  have  laid  waste  the  villages  of 
some  of  my  people,  several  days'  journey  north 
of  here,  and  all  our  tribe  sets  out  on  the  warpath 
against  them.  I  must  join  them,  Chief.  White 


RAOUL'S  DECISION  317 

Thrush,  will  you  not  come  with  me  ?  Remember, 
you,  too,  are  a  brave  of  our  tribe." 

"That  is  so,  Raoul,"  Tonty  ejaculated.  "I 
had  almost  forgotten  your  initiation." 

"I  will  go  with  you,  Swift  Fox,"  Raoul  an 
swered.  "You  speak  the  truth:  I  have  lain  in 
the  dream  lodge  of  the  Hurons,  and  there  my 
manitou  spoke  to  me.  Perhaps,  too,"  he  said, 
turning  to  Tonty,  "I  may  hear  of  Denise  from 
Iroquois  captives.  We  will  set  off  at  once,  and 
if  Beaver  Tail  wishes  to  go  with  me,  tell  him,  I 
pray  you,  to  follow  my  trail.  Farewell  for  a 
while,  Sieur  Tonty;  you  shall  have  news  of  me, 
and  I  pray  that  you  will  always  bear  me  affec 
tion  for  the  sake  of  the  Seigneur  who  loved  us 
both." 


CHAPTER  XXII 

AMBUSHED 

WHEN  they  were  half  down  the  hill  Raoul 
remembered  what  he  had  entrusted  to 
Tonty's  care  before  he  set  sail  for  France  with 
La  Salle  and  climbed  back  to  the  Fort  for  it. 

"See!"  he  cried  when  he  had  rejoined  Swift 
Fox,  who  had  waited  for  him  by  the  river. 
"Here  is  the  ancient  medicine  bag  of  the  Senecas. 
Who  knows  that  it  may  not  prove  valuable  to 
me  again?  How  long  ago  it  was  that  I  found  it 
and  rejoiced  because  I  thought  it  might  be  the 
means  of  serving  the  Seigneur.  Oh,  Swift  Fox, 
if  only  I  could  have  saved  him  again  at  the  end!" 

That  night  Beaver  Tail  caught  up  with  them, 
and  the  three  companions,  Frenchman,  Mohegan 
and  Huron,  in  the  two  days  which  followed  until 
they  reached  the  Huron  village,  took  silent 
pleasure  in  one  another's  company.  They  spoke 

318 


AMBUSHED  319 

seldom,  not  from  precaution,  but  because  they 
were  not  accustomed  to  the  use  of  many  words. 

Their  arrival  at  the  village  was  the  signal  for 
rejoicings.  Swift  Fox  had  already  won  the 
name  of  an  audacious  warrior,  and  White  Thrush 
was  remembered  for  his  initiation  as  a  brave. 
There  was  feasting  that  night  and  many  speeches. 
The  evil  deeds  of  the  Iroquois  were  counted  over 
and  it  was  declared  that  the  time  had  come  when 
they  should  be  punished. 

RaouFs  blood  was  stirred  by  the  dances  and 
the  speeches.  It  was  easy  for  him  to  forget  that 
he  was  anything  but  a  Huron  brave.  He  listened 
while  one  of  the  chiefs,  after  chanting  the  names 
and  exploits  of  many  members  of  the  war  party 
which  was  to  set  forth,  sang:  "White  Thrush,  or 
True  Dog,  accompanies  his  brethren.  Though 
his  skin  is  white,  he  has  lain  in  the  lodge  of  the 
Hurons,  has  fasted  and  heard  the  voice  of  his 
manitou.  He,  too,  goes  forth  against  the  hog- 
eating  Iroquois.  Let  them  tremble  at  his  com- 

ing." 

It  was  decided  that  the  warriors  were  to  be 
divided  into  two  parties  which  were  to  approach 
from  different  sides  the  Iroquois  bands  that  had 
come  so  far  from  their  usual  homes,  and  had  laid 
waste  the  territories  of  the  western  tribes.  Raoul, 
Swift  Fox  and  Beaver  Tail  kept  together  on  the 


320    WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

trail.  Judging  by  the  information  brought  back 
by  scouts,  it  would  be  three  days  before  they 
were  likely  to  catch  up  with  the  foe.  Raoul  and 
Swift  Fox,  urged  by  excitement,  found  the  pace 
of  the  party  too  slow.  The  older  braves  and 
Beaver  Tail  kept  continually  warning  them  to 
be  more  patient  and  wary. 

One  dawn  Raoul  awakened  early  and  Swift 
Fox  was  roused  by  his  getting  up.  "I  can't 
sleep,"  Raoul  whispered;  "let  us  scout  ahead 
a  little  and  see  if  we  can  find  any  sign  that  our 
enemies  have  passed  lately  by  this  trail." 

Beaver  Tail  opened  his  eyes  slowly  as  they 
crept  by  him  and  said:  "Come  back  and  wait. 
Are  ye  still  boys  that  ye  do  not  know  the  wisdom 
of  a  warrior?" 

"We  cannot  sleep,  Beaver  Tail,"  Swift  Fox 
said  laughing.  "We  may  not  know  all  the  wis 
dom  of  old  braves,  but  we  have  the  valor  of 
young  ones.  We  do  not  fear  to  walk  in  any 
woods  at  dawn." 

The  older  Indian  snorted  in  disdain,  but  got 
up  and  followed  them.  The  sun  had  not  yet 
risen  and  the  trail  led  through  dark  shadows  of 
innumerable  trees,  and  great  masses  and  bould 
ers,  from  which  hung  vines  and  ferns,  hemmed 
in  the  trail  on  either  side. 

"Let  us  go   back,"   Beaver   Tail  whispered. 


AMBUSHED  321 

"Here   should  one  pass  only  at  the   brightest 


noon." 


"If  Beaver  Tail  is  afraid,"  sneered  Raoul,  "let 
him  turn  back.  We  will  scout  to  see  that  it  is 
safe  here  for  our  warriors." 

His  words  were  but  the  ghost  of  a  whisper,  but, 
as  if  they  had  been  a  trumpet  call,  an  arrow  sped 
in  response  towards  them.  Straight  in  the  heart 
it  hit  Beaver  Tail,  who  fell  across  the  jagged 
edge  of  a  rock  and  then  to  the  ground  beneath  it. 

"Fly  back!"  commanded  the  dying  man.  "The 
Seigneur  always  bade  me  look  out  for  you,  White 
Thrush." 

Raoul  had  crouched  down  beside  him  and  tried 
to  staunch  the  wound  with  moss.  "Oh!  Beaver 
Tail,"  he  cried  in  remorse,  "forgive  me  for  my 
unkind  words."  He  held  his  hand  against  the 
red  flood  as  if  he  could  dam  it  back,  and  though 
he  knew  and  Swift  Fox  knew  the  danger  of 
waiting  longer,  neither  dreamed  of  fleeing  while 
there  was  any  chance  of  saving  the  Mohegan's 
life.  When  a  few  moments  later  all  was  over, 
they  hurried  noiselessly  back  on  the  trail  by  which 
they  had  come.  Then  the  silence  of  the  forest 
was  broken  by  horrible  screeches  and  laughter, 
and  Iroquois  poured  over  every  rock  and  slid 
from  behind  every  tree. 

The  first  sensation  of  the  two  young  warriors 


322          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

was  that  of  shame  that  they  had  beeen  so  careless 
as  to  walk  into  an  ambush.  Then,  since  there 
was  no  possibility  of  flight,  they  made  ready  to 
defend  themselves.  Raoul  drew  his  sword  and 
stood  at  defense,  and  Swift  Fox,  fitting  stones 
into  the  thong  of  his  sling  fired  them  as  rapidly 
as  a  cloud  emits  hailstones.  The  Frenchman's 
blade  and  the  Indian's  stones  halted  the  rush  of 
their  foes  for  a  moment,  but  in  the  next  they 
dashed  forward  again  and  threw  themselves  upon 
the  two  who,  unwounded,  were  borne  down  to 
the  ground  by  the  sheer  impetus  of  the  mass. 

As  the  Iroquois  bound  their  arms  behind  them 
with  deer  sinews,  they  kept  up  a  continual  stream 
of  taunts  and  boasts :  "So  you  dreamed  that  you 
could  walk  unheard  by  Iroquois  ears!  .  .  . 
What  kind  of  warriors  are  you  who  have  not 
learned  that  no  forest  is  safe  from  Iroquois  am 
bushes?  .  .  .  Truly  the  Great  Spirit  hath  not 
given  wisdom  to  the  western  tribes.  .  .  .  The 
squaws  in  your  wigwams  will  wait  long  for  your 
homecomings !  .  .  .  We  shall  see  if  your  courage 
is  greater  than  your  foolhardiness  when  you 
suffer  the  tortures  we  have  ready  for  you." 

Then  they  danced  around  Raoul  and  peered 
into  his  face,  their  small,  bright  eyes  lighted  by 
fiendish  glee.  One  brave  called  out:  "Has  a 
Frenchman  no  home  that  he  dwells  with  red  men ; 


AMBUSHED  323 

have  his  own  people  cast  him  off  that  he  must  fol 
low  the  Hurons  on  the  war  path?" 

Raoul  did  not  blanch.  He  knew  that  no 
matter  what  happened  he  must  not  show  the 
slightest  sign  of  fear.  To  his  pride  as  a  French 
man  was  added  the  stoical  endurance  of  an 
Indian  brave — he  must  not  shame  either  of  his 
trainings. 

He  and  Swift  Fox  walked  ahead  of  their 
captors  on  the  trail  toward  the  east.  They  won 
dered  whether  the  Huron  war  party  behind  them 
had  been  surrounded  by  others  of  their  foes,  or 
whether  those  who  had  ambushed  them  were  the 
only  Iroquois  who  were  still  so  far  from  their 
main  band.  Raoul's  thoughts  were  constantly 
with  Beaver  Tail;  he  recalled  how  kind  he  had 
been  to  him  during  all  the  years  they  had  both 
served  La  Salle;  the  pride  the  Mohegan  had 
taken  in  the  lad's  prowess  as  a  hunter ;  the  stories 
he  had  told  him  of  bewitched  beasts  and  old 
legends;  and,  man  though  he  was,  he  felt  his 
throat  tighten  when  he  realized  that  if  he  had 
followed  Beaver  Tail's  protests,  the  Indian  would 
not  have  been  killed,  and  he  and  Swift  Fox 
would  still  be  free. 

For  three  days  they  journeyed,  passing  no 
villages;  but  once  they  encountered  another 
party  of  Iroquois  with  fresh  scalps  dangling  from 


324          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

their  girdles,  and  five  Illinois  prisoners.  The  two 
parties  now  journeyed  on  together,  and  at  night 
there  was  always  feasting,  quantities  of  food,  that 
was  shared  generously  with  the  prisoners.  They 
were  not  physically  ill-treated — that  would  come 
later — but  they  were  taunted  and  told  the  hideous 
details  of  the  torture  that  awaited  them.  Raoul 
had  discovered  that  their  captors  were  Senecas, 
but  he  had  decided  that  he  would  not  speak  of  his 
youthful  association  with  their  tribe,  since  it 
might  anger  his  enemies  all  the  more,  and  warned 
Swift  Fox  not  to  call  him  by  the  name  of  White 
Thrush,  lest  it  should  be  recognized. 

"The  Senecas  are  a  great  tribe,"  boasted  a 
warrior  one  noon  as  he  lay  stretched  out  on  the 
moss  resting.  "Even  as  the  Five  Nations  are 
greater  than  all  other  nations,  so  are  the  Senecas 
greater  than  the  Mohawks,  the  Onondaguas,  the 
Oneidas,  and  the  Cayugas.  Listen,  dogs  of  our 
foes,  to  the  story  of  our  greatness." 

Swift  Fox  closed  his  eyes  and  in  a  few  minutes 
the  sleep  that  he  feigned  came  to  him  in  earnest ; 
but  Raoul's  curiosity  regarding  the  Senecas  made 
him  eager  to  hear  what  the  brave  had  to  say.  He 
knew  his  type :  he  was  the  kind  of  man  whom  he 
had  seen  in  many  places,  in  France,  as  well  as  in 
the  wilderness,  one  who  was  always  loud  in  his 
praise  of  Ms  country,  Ms  people,  Ms  ways. 


AMBUSHED  325 

"Among  all  the  dwellers  of  the  Long  House," 
he  continued  taking  a  long  breath  as  if  he  needed 
extra  strength  to  do  justice  to  his  subject,  "the 
ones  most  feared  by  our  foes  and  most  envied  by 
our  friends  are  those  belonging  to  the  tribe  of 
the  Senecas.  We  are  like  foxes  for  spying  out 
our  enemies,  like  eagles  swift  in  our  swoop  upon 
them,  and  our  claws  are  sharper  than  those  of 
full-grown  bears,  forget  not,  ye  captives,"  he 
warned.  "And  as  we  are  invincible  in  war,  so 
are  we  wise  in  council  and  in  medicine.  There 
is  no  chief  like  our  chief,  whose  manitou  shows 
him  the  wisdom  of  the  Great  Manitou.  He 
speaks  and  we  listen.  'To-day,'  he  says,  'let  us 
plant  corn,  for  it  will  increase  if  tonight's  dew 
falls  up  it' ;  and  our  squaws  plant  and  reap  such 
plentiful  harvest  that  no  hunger  comes  near  our 
lodges  in  the  winter.  He  says,  'this  captive  shall 
die  at  the  stake  and  then  you  will  eat  his  heart' ; 
and  we  burn  the  Illinois,  or  the  Huron,  or  the 
Frenchman," — here  he  leered  into  the  faces  of 
Raoul  and  Swift  Fox,  "and  eat  his  heart,  and  his 
strength  passes  into  our  bodies.  But  not  only 
does  our  chief  listen  to  the  voice  of  his  manitou, 
but  there  is  another  voice  in  his  lodge,  that  of  a 
prophetess,  whose  medicine  is  a  wonderful  medi 
cine  and  whose  manitou  shows  what  things  shall 


326          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

strengthen  the  Senecas  and  make  them  more 
feared  by  their  foes." 

Raoul  was  beginning  to  be  disappointed  that 
he  had  not  heard  the  name  of  the  chief  and  did 
not  know  whether  he  might  be  Old  Wolf,  or 
whether  he  was  dead.  There  was  no  word  either 
of  any  French  maiden,  and  he  was  in  no  position 
to  ask  information  about  anything.  "Indeed, 
he  thought,  what  use  is  there  in  my  knowing?  I 
shall  be  dead  soon  and  there's  an  end  to  my  quest 
and  to  La  Salle's  hopes  for  me!" 

But  the  brave  did  not  care  whether  his  captives 
listened  to  what  he  had  to  say  or  looked  as  if  they 
were  a  hundred  leagues  away.  It  was  enough 
satisfaction  to  hear  himself  talk,  and  some  of  his 
boastings  must  find  their  way  into  even  unwilling 
ears.  So  he  continued,  telling  how  the  numbers 
of  his  tribe  had  increased  because,  when  there 
were  not  enough  pappooses,  the  chief  and  the 
prophetess  bade  the  squaws  adopt  some  of  their 
captives  instead  of  killing  them,  and  how  these 
in  course  of  time,  when  they  had  taken  Seneca 
girls  as  their  squaws,  became  fond  of  their  new 
names  and  their  new  people. 

Before  he  had  wearied  of  his  subject  the 
signal  was  given  to  move  on.  The  next  morning 
at  sunrise  there  came  to  the  war  parties  the  sound 
of  many  dogs  barking.  The  braves  shouted  and 


AMBUSHED  327 

screamed  with  pleasure  and  ran  ahead,  and  Raoul 
and  Swift  Fox  felt  the  sunhine  in  their  eyes  as 
they  emerged  from  the  sombre  forest  and  saw 
before  them  the  tilled  fields  surrounding  a 
palisaded  town.  The  two  friends  knew  they  had 
reached  the  end  of  their  journey  and  that  in  the 
village  their  terrible  fate  awaited  them.  They 
did  not  attempt  to  comfort  or  hearten  each  other 
by  words,  but  a  sympathetic  glance  passed  be 
tween  them. 

The  village  was  as  swarming  as  an  ant  hill: 
men,  squaws  and  children  ran  out  of  the  lodges, 
shrieking  questions.  The  braves  threw  them  an 
answer  every  now  and  then,  but  would  not  enter 
into  conversation  until  they  had  finished  their 
work.  Hastily,  a  number  of  poles  were  set  up  in 
the  open  space  in  the  centre  of  the  village,  and 
Raoul,  Swift  Fox  and  the  other  captives  were 
bound  each  to  one  of  them.  Then  the  braves  sank 
down  upon  the  grass  to  rest  and  looked  on  at 
the  spectacle.  Dancing  and  yelling,  the  stay-at- 
homes  swarmed  about  the  captives  like  gnats,  and 
each  one  managed  to  inflict  some  physical  dis 
comfort,  if  not  pain.  The  squaws  scratched  their 
cheeks  with  their  nails ;  the  children  hit  them  with 
sticks,  and  one  old  warrior  aimed  an  arrow  which 
lodged  in  Raoul' s  shoulder.  But  neither  he  nor 
Swift  Fox  gave  any  sign  that  they  had  any 


328          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

more  feeling  than  the  hills  heyond  on  which  their 
gaze  rested.  They  knew  that  this  was  but  a  pre 
liminary  taste  of  the  unpleasant  things  in  store 
for  them. 

Yet  as  the  crowd  pressed  and  surged  about 
them,  Rauol  was  conscious  of  one  face,  that  of 
a  man  who  came  close  to  him  often  but  who  never 
hit  or  otherwise  molested  him.  He  tried  to  re 
call  the  face  and  suddenly  the  memory  came 
back  to  him — it  was  the  countenance  of  Black 
Duck,  his  old  friend,  the  trapper  of  Michillimac- 
kinac  days.  He  imagined  that  the  Indian  was 
observing  him  questioningly ;  but  just  then  a  boy 
threw  a  rotten  squash  which  hit  his  forehead,  and 
the  seeds  and  pulp  ran  into  his  eyes,  blinding 
him  momentarily. 

All  morning  long  the  sport  of  baiting  the 
prisoners  continued.  Songs  were  sung  of  the 
prowess  of  the  Senecas  and  the  stupidity  of  the 
ambushed.  In  the  afternoon  the  amusement 
palled  and  the  captives  were  left  alone,  to  suffer 
from  heat,  thirst,  hunger  and  the  pin  pricks  of 
their  wounds.  When  dark  fell  they  were  re 
leased.  Raoul  could  not  see  what  became  of  the 
others,  but  was  glad  to  find  that  Swift  Fox  was 
being  taken  with  him  to  the  prison  lodge. 

Food  was  brought  them,  and  not  even  the 
fatigues  and  trials  of  the  day  that  was  past,  or 


AMBUSHED  329 

the  knowledge  of  the  fate  before  them,  could 
keep  them  from  enjoying  it.  When  Swift  Fox 
had  finished  eating  he  threw  himself  on  the 
ground  and  was  asleep  within  five  minutes,  but 
Raoul's  temperament  was  different:  he  could 
feign  indifference  to  torture  and  death  and  when 
they  came  meet  them  bravely;  nevertheless,  his 
whole  being  that  night  was  swept  with  emotions 
that  burned  like  liquid  fire. 

"It  is  all  very  well,"  he  said,  speaking  low  in 
French  to  himself  as  if  he  must  hear  once  again 
the  language  of  his  home,  "for  me  to  be  a  friend 
to  savages  and  to  find  much  in  their  ways  to 
like ;  but  to  die  as  one,  away  my  own  people  and 
for  a  cause  that  is  not  my  own — that  is  a  sad  end 
for  a  De  Larnac!  What  would  the  Seigneur 
have  said?  .  .  .  He  would  have  chided  me  again 
for  an  act  which  was  brought  about  by  my  folly." 

He  was  overwhelmed  mentally  by  remorse 
and  almost  suffocated  physically  by  the  air  of  the 
lodge  which  was  securely  fastened  on  the  out 
side.  He  could  hear  the  breathing  of  the  guard 
who  sat  outside,  and  if  he  had  harbored  any  idea 
of  attempting  to  escape,  he  now  put  it  aside.  He 
could  not  sleep,  and  hour  after  hour  went  by 
filling  the  darkness  with  pictures  of  the  years 
that  had  passed.  He  felt  a  strange  kind  of  pity, 
as  for  some  stranger,  to  think  that  the  youth  who 


330    WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

had  done  so  much  and  seen  so  much  in  his  twenty 
years  was  to  do  and  see  no  more!  He  would 
never  rescue  Denise  now,  never  take  her  home  to 
her  family,  never  help  Tonty,  never  make  a  place 
for  himself  in  New  France. 

He  was  sick  of  his  own  thoughts;  he  was  al 
most  ready  to  awaken  Swift  Fox  and  make  him 
talk;  he  wished  even  that  the  dogs  in  the  village 
would  bark ;  even  the  breathing  of  the  guard  was 
no  longer  audible,  and  he  had  an  idea  that  the 
Seneca  had  slipped  farther  away,  perhaps  to  the 
nearest  lodge,  knowing  that  his  captives  could 
not  escape.  Raoul  rose  and  tested  the  inside  of 
the  prison  again — but  there  was  no  weak  spot. 
Far  away  in  the  distance  he  heard  a  faint 
sound;  he  could  not  tell  whether  it  was  the 
call  of  some  beast,  the  cry  of  a  night  bird  or  a 
human  voice.  Whatever  it  was,  it  was  a  relief 
to  have  the  silence  broken.  It  came  nearer  and 
now  he  could  distinguish  that  it  was  a  man  sing 
ing.  He  could  not  make  out  the  words  at  first, 
and  when  he  did  they  were  but  those  of  a  chant, 
the  chant  of  a  hunter,  a  monotonous  refrain  and 
repetition:  "To-day  a  deer  fell  to  my  arrow. 
My  bow  is  strong  and  my  arm  is  stronger.  To 
day  a  deer  fell  to  my  arrow,  a  deer  of  the  forest. 
My  bow  is  strong  and  I  am  a  great  hunter." 

There   was    something   soothing   in   the   mo- 


AMBUSHED  331 

notonous  tune  and  repetition  of  words,  and  Raoul 
began  to  feel  sleepy.  Now  the  singer  was  pass 
ing  just  outside  of  the  lodge  and  the  chant  was 
interrupted,  and  then,  to  his  amazement,  Raoul 
heard  the  whispered  words,  'White  Thrush! 
White  Thrush!" 

It  was  Black  Duck  then.  Black  Duck  was 
trying  to  discover  if  his  impression  of  the  after 
noon  had  been  correct. 

"Yes,  White  Thrush.  It  is  White  Thrush!" 
he  called  out,  not  caring  whether  his  gaoler  heard 
or  not.  He  listened  eagerly  for  what  Black 
Duck  would  say  next.  The  interruption  of  the 
chant  had  lasted  no  more  than  half  a  minute; 
now  the  singer  began  again:  "A  deer  fell  to  my 
arrow.  My  bow  is  strong  and  my  arm  is 
stronger."  This  was  repeated  over  and  over 
again  until  the  voice  died  away  in  the  distance. 
He  did  not  know  whether  he  had  any  right  to  the 
sudden  hope  which  had  come  to  him ;  but  as  he  lay 
on  the  mat,  wondering  whether  there  was  any 
thing  Black  Duck — who  was  not  a  Seneca,  whose 
own  safety  among  the  Iroquois  was  perhaps  not 
assured — could  do  for  him,  he  fell  asleep. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

THE  PROPHETESS 

SWIFT  FOX  and  Raoul  were  the  two  most 
important  captives  whose  fate  was  to  be 
deliberated  that  day  at  the  council;  they  were 
braves  whose  names  were  known,  though  there 
was  much  speculation  in  regard  to  the  French 
man's  presence  among  the  Hurons.  Raoul 
managed  to  say  a  few  words  to  Swift  Fox  as  they 
were  taken  to  the  lodge  where  the  council  was  to 
be  held,  of  what  he  had  heard  the  night  before; 
but  Swift  Fox  agreed  with  him  that  there  was 
little  chance  that  Black  Duck  could  render  them 
any  aid.  They  did  not  speak  of  their  determina 
tion  to  die  bravely ;  each  would  have  felt  it  an  in 
sult  to  doubt  for  a  moment  that  of  his  friend. 

The   council   lodge    was    filled    with    Seneca 
braves  when  they  were  led  in,  and  the  other 

332 


THE   PROPHETESS  333 

captives,  of  lesser  importance,  were  leaving  it, 
some  to  die  at  the  stake,  others  to  be  kept  as 
prisoners.  The  two  youths  walked  in,  holding 
their  heads  high,  and  looked  about  them,  a  dis 
dainful  smile  on  their  lips,  testifying  to  their 
opinion  of  their  foes. 

"You  will  not  smile  much  longer,"  cried  a 
young  warrior,  irritated  by  their  attitude,  but 
the  chiefs  bade  him  be  silent. 

Raoul's  attention,  even  at  such  a  time, 
wandered;  though  they  were  discussing  what 
form  of  death  should  be  meted  out  to  him,  his  eyes 
were  searching  for  Black  Duck.  The  lodge  was 
so  dark ;  the  flames  from  the  fire  threw  such  deep 
shadows  opposite  him  that  it  was  difficult  to  be 
certain  that  his  old  friend,  was  indeed  not 
there.  It  would  be  unusual,  he  knew,  for  an 
Indian  of  another  nation,  unless  an  allied  one,  to 
be  present  at  a  solemn  council.  Then  he  heard 
Swift  Fox  laugh,  and  suddenly  his  brain  took  in 
the  words  of  a  Seneca  chief  which  his  ears  had 
heard  a  minute  before:  "They  are  swift  of  foot, 
these  young  braves  from  the  west.  Let  us  see  if 
they  are  swift  enough  to  run  unharmed  through 
the  gauntlet!" 

Raoul  tried  to  echo  his  comrade's  laugh,  to 
prove  his  scorn  of  the  fate  which  had  been  as 
signed  him,  but  to  his  own  ears  his  laugh  sounded 


334          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

feeble.  So  he  lapsed  into  the  silence  of  dignified 
acceptance. 

Just  then  a  gust  of  wind  down  the  smoke  hole 
blew  the  smoke  and  the  shadows  to  his  right,  and 
left  the  faces  opposite  him  illumined  by  the  blaze. 
The  face  of  the  old  chief  who  sat  on  an  albinos 
higher  than  the  others  he  recognized  as  that 
of  Old  Wolf.  The  well-remembered  features 
brought  back  the  first  days  in  the  forest,  and  he 
wondered  if  Red  Wing  were  alive.  It  came  too 
late  now — this  chance  he  had  sought  for  so  many 
years — the  chance  to  ask  Old  Wolf  what  had 
become  of  Denise.  His  hand  which  he  had  raised 
instinctively  to  shade  his  eyes,  that  he  might  peer 
the  better  into  the  opposite  side  of  the  lodge,  now 
sank  to  his  side  and  touched  the  medicine  bag 
which  he  carried  hanging  from  his  belt.  The 
touch  brought  a  sudden  hope  to  him.  He  could 
feign  a  willingness  to  die,  but  he  was  eager  to 
live,  and  it  was  possible,  his  heart-beats  told  him, 
that  this  medicine  bag  might  save  his  life. 

There  was  a  pause.  All  had  been  said  that 
was  necessary  to  say;  the  ordeal  of  running  the 
gauntlet  was  fixed  for  the  morrow,  and  Swift 
Fox  had  once  again  laughed  derisively  when  he 
was  informed  of  it.  Then  Raoul  spoke,  hold 
ing  out  the  medicine  bag  towards  the  fire: 

"Old  Wolf,  Chief  of  the  Senecas!  even  your 


THE  PROPHETESS  335 

foes  have  heard  of  your  medicine  and  of  the 
powers  of  your  medicine  bag." 

At  the  white  youth's  first  gesture  the  old 
Indian's  eyes  fastened  on  the  medicine  bag.  He 
did  not  take  them  away  while  Raoul  continued: 

"Has  your  wisdom  departed  from  you  while 
your  medicine  bag  slept  in  the  hands  of  your  foes  ? 
Behold  it  once  again!" 

In  a  second  he  was  surrounded  by  braves 
whose  curiosity  to  satisfy  themselves  that  this 
was  indeed  the  ancient  long-lost  medicine  bag 
was  restrained  only  by  the  their  veneration  for 
it.  They  did  not  touch  it,  but  Old  Wolf,  rising 
slowly,  came  to  Raoul's  side,  fingered  it  without 
however  taking  it  from  his  belt,  and  then  walked 
slowly  back  again  to  his  seat.  "It  is  the  medicine 
bag  of  my  ancestors,"  he  announced. 

He  could,  of  course,  have  taken  it  forcibly  from 
him,  but  Raoul  knew  that  he  would  not  do  this. 
On  his  part  he  would  have  liked  to  say:  "I  will 
return  you  your  bag  if  you  will  spare  my  life;" 
but  this  too  would  have  been  against  Indian 
etiquette.  He  must  give  it  as  a  free  gift,  hop 
ing  that  in  return  he  would  be  presented  with  the 
gift  of  his  safety.  So  he  said,  as  he  detached  the 
bag  and  handed  it  across  the  fire  into  the  hands 
of  the  old  chief:  "Take  it  again,  Old  Wolf." 

The  venerable  chief  did  not  attempt  to  hide 


336          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

his  satisfaction.  He  felt  the  precious  relic  over 
and  over,  as  if  it  were  a  child  and  he  were  as 
suring  himself  that  no  harm  had  come  to  it.  His 
face  softened  and  Raoul  felt  hopeful  that  in 
gratitude  he  would  set  him  free.  Then  he  saw  a 
sudden  frown  replace  the  smile. 

"It  was  you  then,"  Old  Wolf  exclaimed,  "who 
gave  the  lying  message  to  Iroquois  braves,  say 
ing  I  had  bidden  them  not  slay  the  French  leader, 
our  great  foe,  until  the  fall.  When  they  fell  in 
again  with  me,  moons  later,  and  learned  that  it 
was  no  messenger  of  mine  who  had  held  my 
medicine  bag,  it  was  then  too  late  to  do  the  deed 
they  had  planned.  So  it  was  you?"  He  paused 
a  moment,  then  he  said :  "At  last  my  medicine  is 
too  strong  for  you.  Take  him  away,"  he  com 
manded  ;  "let  us  see  to-morrow  if  he  is  as  brave  as 
he  is  audacious." 

Raoul  realized  that  his  one  chance  was  gone, 
and  that  Old  Wolf  did  not  recognize  in  him  the 
boy  he  had  once  carried  off  to  his  lodge.  He 
decided  that  there  was  nothing  to  gain  by  re 
calling  this  fact  to  him;  indeed,  it  might  in 
crease  his  anger  when  he  remembered  how  Raoul 
had  run  away  and  put  an  end  to  his  carefully 
laid  plans.  So  he  now  gave  up  all  hope  of  escape 
and  walked  calmly  by  the  side  of  Swift  Fox  as 


THE  PROPHETESS  337 

they  were  led  back  to  the  lodge  where  they  were 
to  be  imprisoned  until  the  morrow. 

When  they  were  left  alone  the  two  friends 
talked  in  undertones  while  they  examined  the 
lodge. 

"Is  there  no  opening  there,  Swift  Fox?"  Raoul 
whispered. 

"I  could  gnaw  the  bark  with  my  teeth,"  re 
plied  the  Indian,  "but  it  would  take  many  hours 
and  there  are  not  many  left  to  us  before  the 
sun  rises.  There  is  no  escape,  White  Thrush." 

"I  would  I  might  be  alone,  Swift  Fox,"  the 
Frenchman  spoke  sadly,  "since  it  was  I  who 
brought  you  to  this." 

"Nay,  are  we  not  brothers?"  the  Indian 
answered.  "We  have  shared  joys,  now  we  shall 
share  tortures." 

Without  more  words,  they  threw  themselves 
down  on  the  mats  and  soon  fell  asleeep. 

Raoul  was  awakened  by  a  touch  on  his  arm. 

"Come,"  commanded  a  young  Seneca,  whose 
figure  was  dimly  visible  in  the  darkness. 

Swift  Fox  too  was  roused  by  the  words,  but 
when,  thinking  that  the  command  was  for  him 
also,  he  started  to  rise,  the  Seneca  motioned  him 
to  lie  down  again.  The  two  prisoners  grasped 
each  other's  hands  in  silence,  not  knowing  if  they 
were  ever  to  see  each  other  again,  for  this  un- 


338          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

expected  call  might  mean  that  they  were  to  be 
tortured  separately  before  the  final  act  came. 

It  was  dark  as  the  two  walked  between  the 
quiet  lodges,  and  for  a  moment  Raoul  believed 
it  would  be  possible  to  make  a  dash  for  liberty, 
unbound  as  he  was ;  then  he  realized  that  his  free 
dom  was  only  apparent,  that  he  was  surely 
watched  by  vigilant  foes.  At  the  end  of  the  vil 
lage  they  came  to  a  lodge  that  even  by  the  dim 
starlight  Raoul  could  see  was  different  from  the 
others.  There  was  an  attempt  at  decoration, 
rough  paintings  on  birchbark  and  skins  hung 
down  its  sides.  Through  the  chinks  glowed  the 
light  of  a  bright  fire. 

"The  Prophetess  awaits  you,"  remarked  his 
guide  as  he  opened  the  flap  and  motioned  Raoul 
to  enter  while  he  remained  outside. 

Raoul's  eyes  were  dazzled  by  the  sudden  light 
and  the  glitter  of  its  flame  against  the  shining 
bead  work  that  seemed  everywhere,  hanging 
from  the  walls,  on  skins  underfoot,  and  on  the 
garments  of  the  two  young  women  who  were 
kneeling  before  the  fire  as  he  entered.  The  older 
one  rose  and  looked  searchingly  at  him.  She  was 
tall  and  lithe;  her  dark  hair  fell  in  two  braids 
on  either  shoulder,  and  her  moccasins  and  her 
robe  were  of  the  softest  doeskin.  Her  eyes  were 


THE  PROPHETESS  339 

dark  and  her  skin  a  delicate  rich  tan,  but  she  was 
no  Indian! 

Raoul's  heart  beat  loud  with  excitement — 
could  it  indeed  mean  that  at  last  he  had  found 
her? 

Before  he  could  master  his  surprise  and  find 
words,  she  spoke  to  him  in  the  Seneca  tongue: 
"Who  are  you,  captive?" 

"Denise!"  he  cried;  the  sound  of  her  voice,  so 
long  unheard,  had  not  changed  as  had  her 
features,  "Denise,  do  you  not  remember  your 
old  friend,  Raoul?" 

He  spoke  in  French,  and  his  words  brought  a 
strained  look  into  the  girl's  face.  "I  do  not  un 
derstand  you,"  she  said,  speaking  in  the  Indian 
language;  'what  is  it  you  say?  Are  you  in  truth, 
as  Black  Duck  believes,  the  boy  I  used  to  know?" 

She  waved  her  hand,  and  her  little  friend  crept 
out  of  the  lodge,  leaving  them  alone.  Raoul  took 
her  hand  and  then,  in  rapid  Seneca,  gave  her 
the  main  facts  of  what  had  happened  to  him  since 
they  had  parted,  and  something  of  his  long 
search  for  her.  Denise  listened  eagerly,  but  her 
puzzled  expression  showed  that  much  of  his 
recital  was  incomprehensible  to  her. 

"Why  did  you  and  your  chief  wish  to  brave 
all  those  dangers  just  to  reach  the  end  of  a  river?" 
she  queried.  And  when  told  of  the  friars  who 


340          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

had  risked  their  lives  to  convert  the  Indians,  she 
could  not  understand  why  they  should  wish  to  do 
this.  Raoul  discovered  that  the  daughter  of  the 
French  habitant  had  become  in  all  essentials  an 
Indian  maiden,  whose  memories  of  her  early  life 
were  but  vague.  At  first  her  attitude  towards 
him  was  very  formal;  she  was  the  daughter  of 
the  chief  and  the  respected  prophetess  and  he 
the  captive  doomed  by  her  father  to  death.  But 
little  by  little,  she  showed  more  friendliness. 

"Tell  me,"  asked  Raoul  when,  with  a  gesture 
he  thought  no  lady  of  King  Louis's  court  could 
have  equalled,  she  had  bidden  him  be  seated  be 
side  her,  "did  Black  Duck  tell  you  who  I  was?" 

"He  came  here  last  night,"  she  replied,  "and 
told  me  that  he  was  now  certain  that  the  prisoner 
was  my  old  comrade  and  the  boy  he  had  taught 
trapping." 

"And  then  you  decided  to  speak  with  me?"  con 
tinued  Raoul. 

"I  was  curious,"  she  answered.  "If  Black 
Duck  had  not  talked  of  you  every  year  he  came 
to  us  with  skins  to  barter,  I  should  have  believed 
you  dead  and  forgotten  about  you." 

"So  you  did  not  quite  forget  me?"  Raoul  asked. 

"No,  but  I  could  not  remember  how  you 
looked,  and  even  the  thought  of  my  childhood 


THE   PROPHETESS  341 

had  grown  almost  as  faint  as  the  words  of  the 
tongue  you  spoke  a  moment  ago." 

"Have  you  been  unhappy  in  these  years, 
Denise?"  he  asked;  "have  they  ill-treated  you?" 

"Ill-treated!"  she  exclaimed  indignantly.  "Do 
you  not  know  that  my  word  is  greater  than  the 
words  of  the  medicine  men,  that  it  is  me  they  con 
sult  when  the  young  men  go  forth  upon  the  war 
path,  and  when  the  grain  is  to  be  planted,  and 
when  weighty  matters  must  be  decided?" 

Now  Raoul  recalled  all  he  had  heard  from 
many  tribes  of  the  prophetess  of  the  Senecas,  and 
knew  that  Denise  was  speaking  the  truth.  He 
himself  had  lived  so  much  among  Indians  that 
this  kind  of  fame,  at  which  so  many  white  men 
would  have  scoffed,  was  to  him  something  real 
and  important.  He  knew  that  often  among  the 
red  men  women  were  believed  to  be  specially  in 
spired  by  their  manitous  with  prophecy  and 
wisdom.  In  Denise's  case  there  was  also  the 
mind  of  a  French  woman,  even  if  only  partly 
developed.  He  listened  while  she  told  him 
proudly  how  often  her  advice  had  aided  the 
Senecas,  whose  triumphs  were  her  triumphs.  She 
spoke  affectionately  of  Old  Wolf,  her  foster 
father,  and  tears  came  to  her  eyes  when  she  re 
lated  the  death  of  his  squaw,  Sun  Cloud. 

"And  Red  Wing?"  Raoul  asked;  "do  you  re- 


342          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

member  the  thrashing  he  gave  me  and  how  you 
bathed  my  back?" 

"It  comes  back,"  she  said,  speaking  slowly, 
"all  your  pain. .  .all  my  terror.  I  had  forgotten 
it  all ...  How  strange  to  be  so  afraid  of  those  I 
love  now!. .  .Red  Wing  was  slain  in  the  fight 
ing  against  the  Illinois  many  years  ago." 

They  talked  on,  each  forgetting  the  present  in 
recalling  the  past,  and  Denise  showed  growing 
interest  in  bringing  it  back.  Suddenly,  with  a 
cry  of  triumph  she  cried  out,  "pere"  and  "mere" 
I  remember  now  that  is  how  I  used  to  call  my 
father  and  mother  when  we  lived  in  a  big  house 
and  there  were  many  brothers  and  sisters  about." 

She  was  silent  and  Raoul  thought  that  there 
could  be  no  pleasanter  task  than  to  help  her 
memory  to  recall  slowly,  bit  by  bit,  all  that  it  had 
forgotten.  But  there  was  no  time;  he  realized 
suddenly  that  there  were  only  a  few  hours  left 
until  he  was  to  die. 

"You  were  not  at  the  council,"  he  said. 

"No,"  she  answered.  "I  like  not  to  hear  men 
condemned  to  death,  and  there  were  no  other 
matters  to  be  decided.1' 

"Know  you  that  I  am  to  die  to-morrow?"  he 
questioned. 

"Yes,"  she  replied,  "so  it  was  decided." 

Raoul  could  see  that  her  answer  was  almost 


THE  PROPHETESS  343 

mechanical,  as  if  one  part  of  her  brain  were  ab 
sorbed  by  another  question. 

"But,  Denise,"  he  expostulated,  "it  must  not 
be.  I  do  not  fear  death,  but  now  that  I  have 
found  you  I  must  take  you  back  to  your  people." 

"Take  me  away!"  she  cried;  "leave  Old  Wolf 
and  all  I  love!" 

"But  you  are  French,  Denise;  you  cannot  be 
content  to  live  forever  with  Indians,  to  become 
the  squaw  of  a  brave,  unless.  .  .unless  .  .  ." 
He  stopped,  overwhelmed  with  the  possibility. 
"Are  you  already  a  squaw,  perchance?" 

"See  you  not  that  I  live  in  mine  own  lodge?" 
she  asked  proudly. 

He  breathed  a  sigh  of  relief.  "Then,  Denise, 
you  are  not  bound  here.  I  thank  God  that  you 
have  known  protection  and  happiness  in  these 
long  years,  but  think  of  what  your  mother  and 
father  have  suffered  in  their  anxiety  regarding 
your  fate.  Think  that  you  have  forgotten  even 
the  God  of  your  people ;  that  you  have  no  knowl 
edge  of  how  far  the  wisdom  of  the  white  man  is 
above  that  of  the  red  man;  that  you  must  often 
hear  the  whoops  of  the  war  dances,  instead  of  the 
French  songs  of  your  brothers  when  they  work 
and  are  happy  .  .  .  and  are  not  fearing  for  you. 
Will  you  not  come,  Denise?  If  you  will,  I  know 


344          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

that  Black  Duck  can  find  a  way  so  that  we  may 
escape  together.  Viens,  chere  Denise,  cherie" 

The  young  prophetess  had  stood  during  his 
pleadings,  apparently  unmoved.  But  in  reality, 
his  words  had  been  fighting  for  him.  The  sight 
of  a  white  man  and  the  difference  between  him 
and  the  Indians  was  affecting  her  more  and 
more ;  old  memories,  old  thoughts,  were  gathering 
strength  in  her,  and  the  French  blood  was  clamor 
ing  for  its  rights.  And  his  final  French  words, 
the  terms  of  endearment  her  mother  once  used  to 
her,  suddenly  became  comprehensible. 

"Yes,"  she  said,  putting  out  her  hand  which 
Raoul  took  in  his  own,  and  longed  to  press  to  his 
lips,  "yes,  I  will  go  with  you  and  Black  Duck  to 
the  land  of  my  people." 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

OLD  WOLF  AWAKES 

NO  SLEEP  had  come  to  Denise  that  night. 
Now  that  she  had  promised  Raoul  to  help 
him  escape  and  to  return  with  him  to  the  country 
of  the  white  men  her  wits  had  worked  quickly, 
and  she  had  soon  thought  out  a  plan.  She  her 
self  was  beyond  suspicion;  nothing  she  might  do 
would  be  questioned  by  the  Senecas.  She  had 
sent  Raoul  back  to  the  prison  lodge  after  he  had 
induced  her,  with  some  difficulty,  to  allow  Swift 
Fox  to  escape  with  them.  For  the  rest  of  the 
night  Denise  had  tossed  on  the  mats,  getting  up 
now  and  then  to  walk  back  and  forth,  stepping 
carefully  that  she  might  not  awaken  her  little 
friend.  She  could  not  remember  that  she  had 
ever  spent  a  sleepless  night  before  in  her  life. 
Stories  and  legends  came  to  her,  of  braves  and 
hunters  who  had  changed  into  beasts,  and  she 
thought  that  they  must  have  experienced  some 
of  her  feelings.  At  one  moment  she  was  a 

345 


346          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

Seneca  prophetess  with  no  ambition  beyond  that 
of  her  people ;  in  the  next  she  was  conscious  of  a 
host  of  new  desires  and  of  old  memories.  More 
and  more  clearly  came  back  to  her  the  pictures 
of  her  home  and  the  faces  of  her  father  and 
mother.  Again  she  saw  the  figure  and  the 
features  of  the  French  lad  who  had  been  her 
companion  in  the  first  days  of  her  captivity, 
though  as  yet  she  could  not  find  a  resemblance  to 
him  in  the  face  of  the  man  he  had  grown  to  be. 
Raoul,  whose  thoughts  that  night  were  more  of 
the  Denise  of  the  present  than  of  the  child  she 
had  been,  would  have  been  disappointed  to  know 
how  little  conscious  influence  and  impression  his 
new  estate  of  manhood  had  made  on  her. 

Before  dawn  broke  she  had  gathered  together 
a  few  of  her  most  precious  belongings,  bead  neck 
laces  and  belts,  and  had  tied  them  together  in  a 
bear  skin.  While  it  was  still  dark  she  sent  her 
little  friend  for  Black  Duck. 

"You  were  right,  Black  Duck/'  she  said  go 
ing  outside  to  meet  him;  "it  is  White  Thrush. 
His  words  have  changed  my  heart  so  that  I  have 
promised  to  help  him  escape  and  to  return  to  my 
own  people,  the  French.  I  have  told  him  that 
you  would  go  with  us.  Have  I  spoken  wisely?" 

"I  think  it  is  wise,"  answered  the  Potta- 
wattomie;  "but  how  shall  we  get  him  away?" 


OLD  WOLF  AWAKES  347 

"When  the  sun  is  up  an  hour/'  she  replied, 
"you  will  go  to  the  prison  lodge  and  say  that  I 
have  bid  you  bring  the  two  captives  to  Old  Wolf's 
lodge,  as  he  and  I  desire  to  learn  from  the  French 
man  where  the  medicine  bag  was  found,  and  of  the 
Huron  some  information  in  regard  to  his  tribe. 
There  is  no  one  who  will  question  my  right  to  com 
mand  this.  You  will  bring  them  to  the  entrance 
of  Old  Wolf's  lodge  yonder,  and  bid  them  enter 
silently.  Old  Wolf  will  still  be  asleep  and  we 
can  walk  out  again  and  into  the  forest,  and  if 
there  be  any  who  see  us  go  out  they  will  think 
that  Old  Wolf  has  bidden  me  take  them  to  a  spot 
where  my  manitou  in  silence  may  speak  to  their 
manitous  to  learn  wisdom  for  the  great  Seneca 
nation.  Old  Wolf  is  old  and  his  ears  are  no 
longer  keen.  Not  until  the  heat  of  the  day  is 
over  will  they  come  to  lead  the  captives  to  the 
place  of  the  gauntlet-running,  and  by  then  we 
must  be  far  away.  Once  we  are  out  of  the  village 
it  is  you  who  must  say  what  trails  we  shall  fol 
low.'' 

"I  would  we  could  set  off  by  night,"  com 
mented  Black  Duck,  shaking  his  head;  "even 
the  most  silent-footed  beast  dreads  the  daylight." 

"But  we  cannot  wait,"  said  Denise,  "and  if  we 
only  succeed  in  getting  a  good  start,  no  dwellers 
in  other  Seneca  villages  would  dare  dispute  my 


348          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

wishes  and  commands,  or  injure  those  whom  I 
protect." 

When  Black  Duck  had  left,  Denise  realized 
that  her  choice  was  now  made  indeed,  and  that 
within  a  few  moments  she  must  bid  farewell  to 
the  existence  she  had  known  for  so  many  years. 
Suddenly  a  sharp  pain  caught  her  at  the  throat 
when  she  thought  that  never  again  would  she  see 
Old  Wolf.  He  had  been  to  her  always  a  kind 
father,  expending  on  her  the  quiet  affection 
which  she  knew  was  characteristic  of  Indian 
fathers.  For  years  now  too  he  had  shown  his 
pride  in  the  keenness  of  her  wits  and  had  often 
followed  the  measures  she  had  advised  for  the 
guidance  of  the  tribe,  even  when  at  first  they  had 
been  opposed  to  his  own  plans.  She  knew  that 
he  was  old,  but  never  before  had  she  pictured 
the  possibility  of  his  dying.  Now  that  she  was 
about  to  leave  him  she  realized  with  a  quick  pang 
that  he  could  not  live  many  years  longer.  And 
she  was  going  to  leave  him  alone,  to  desert  him 
without  a  word  of  thanks  for  all  the  love  and  the 
affection  he  had  given  her! 

At  least  she  must  see  his  face  once  more.  She 
crept  into  the  lodge  where  his  quiet  breathing 
reassured  her,  and  gazed  at  the  stern  old  face 
with  its  deep  wrinkles  while  she  prayed  to  the 
Great  Spirit  to  watch  over  him. 


OLD  WOLF  AWAKES  349 

She  made  no  noise  that  could  have  roused  him, 
even  if  his  deafness  had  not  walled  him  in  from 
sound,  but  the  old  chief  felt  a  presence  and 
opened  his  eyes.  A  smile  softened  his  features 
and  he  said:  "Red  Cheek  is  welcome  as  the 
first  bird  that  sings  to  the  dawn.  Has  Old  Wolf 
slept  till  the  sun  is  up  that  she  comes  to  wake 
him?" 

"I  was  praying  the  Great  Spirit  to  bless  you, 
my  father,"  she  answered. 

"The  Great  Spirit  has  given  me  a  long  life 
and  my  trail  has  led  me  whither  I  longed  to  go," 
said  the  chief  who  had  risen  and  now  sat  beside 
the  hearth  where  Denise  was  building  a  fire.  "I 
was  a  great  hunter,  a  brave  mine  enemies  feared 
and  whose  deeds  are  still  sung  by  my  people. 
I  have  been  a  wise  chief,  and  my  lodge  fire  has 
never  gone  out;  since  Sun  Cloud  left  me  you 
have  kept  it  lighted." 

The  caresses  and  kisses  a  European  father 
might  have  given  a  beloved  daughter  were  lack 
ing,  but  to  Denise  they  were  all  there  in  the  tone 
of  his  last  words.  Her  throat  contracted  with 
emotion,  and  had  she  not  been  trained  never  to 
weep,  she  would  have  wept  now. 

Yet  even  in  the  midst  of  her  tense  feeling  her 
ears  were  conscious  of  footsteps  approaching, 


350          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

and  she  knew  that  they  were  those  of  Black 
Duck  and  the  two  captives. 

"I  will  not  steal  away  from  him  thus,"  she 
said  aloud,  yet  not  loud  enough  for  him  to  hear 
her,  forgetting  that  already  she  herself  had 
frustrated  their  plan  of  escape. 

Though  Old  Wolf  did  not  hear  her  words,  he 
was  not  blind  to  her  agitation  and  distress. 
"What  is  it,  my  daughter?"  he  asked. 

"I  had  come  to  bid  you  farewell  in  sleep," 
said  Denise,  still  kneeling  beside  the  fire  and 
looking  up,  "because  I  had  determined  to  go 
back  to  the  white  people ;  but  I  know  now  that  I 
can  never  go  away  from  you  and  leave  your 
hearth  unlighted." 

Perhaps  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  Old  Wolf 
expressed  his  affection  for  her  with  a  caress.  He 
laid  his  withered  hand  on  Denise's  head  and  let 
it  stay  there. 

There  was  a  long  silence,  then  the  old  chief 
asked :  "And  who  would  have  shown  Red  Cheek 
the  way?  She  could  not  have  followed  the  trail 
all  alone." 

"Black  Duck  would  have  been  my  guide,"  she 
answered,  glad  to  be  able  to  tell  the  truth  which 
would  injure  no  one. 

This  seemed  to  satisfy  him  for  a  moment,  but 
after  more  thinking  he  asked :  "Has  Red  Cheek 


OLD  WOLF  AWAKES  351 

beheld  the  Illinois  captives  who  are  to  die  to 
day?" 

Denise's  heart  had  decided — the  shadowy 
figures  of  her  past  which  the  earnest  voice  of 
Raoul  had  made  clear  for  an  hour  could  not  take 
the  place  so  long  occupied  by  Old  Wolf.  She 
had  chosen  to  remain  with  him,  but  it  was  not 
until  this  question  startled  her  that  she  realized 
that  her  choice  meant  the  death  of  her  old  com 
rade  and  his  friend.  Their  death — unless  she 
could  save  them!  There  was  no  use  now  to 
deceive  Old  Wolf  longer;  she  must  tell  the  truth 
— part  of  it  at  least — and  appeal  to  him. 

"I  have  seen  the  French  captive,  father,"  she 
answered,  "and  it  was  the  white  face  and  the 
strange  tongue  I  had  forgotten  which  made  me 
think  that  I  would  go  back  to  the  French.  But  I 
have  said,  I  cannot  leave  you.  My  heart  is  in 
this  lodge.  If,  however,  it  be  as  I  believe,  that 
you  are  glad  to  keep  me  here,  may  I  not  ask  a 
boon  from  the  chief  whose  hands  have  always 
been  full  for  Red  Cheek?" 

"Ask,"  replied  Old  Wolf. 

"Let  not  the  blood  of  this  white  man  be  shed 
by  my  people,"  she  begged. 

Her  words  were  few  and  quietly  spoken,  but 
the  Indian  felt  the  fervor  in  them.  He  sat  in 
silence  that  was  unbroken  save  by  the  soft  foot- 


352          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

falls  without,  which  then  stopped,  telling  Denise 
that  Black  Duck  and  the  captives  had  arrived.  It 
seemed  to  her  that  the  lined  visage  grew  sterner, 
that  the  mouth  set  more  firmly,  but  she  would 
not  break  in  upon  the  inner  council  of  his  de 
liberation.  At  last  he  looked  up  and  said: 
"Bring  him  to  me." 

She  went  outside  and  in  a  few  words  explained 
the  situation,  her  own  decision  and  her  endeavor 
to  save  them.  There  was  no  time  to  attempt  to 
change  her,  so  Raoul,  followed  by  the  two 
Indians,  entered  the  lodge  with  her.  Old  Wolf 
did  not  even  look  up  at  their  entrance,  but  his 
expression  gave  them  little  cause  for  hope.  In 
deed,  all  realized  that  once  the  famous  chief  had 
pronounced  a  judgment  in  solemn  council  it 
would  be  almost  impossible  for  him  to  change  it  if 
he  would. 

At  last  Old  Wolf  seemed  to  become  aware  of 
their  presence  and  he  waved  his  hand  for  them 
to  be  seated.  "Bring  food,"  he  commanded 
Denise;  "no  one,  not  even  a  foe,  shall  stay  fast 
ing  in  Old  Wolf's  lodge." 

Denise  moved  softly  about,  taking  meat  and 
corn  mush  from  certain  baskets  and  placing  them 
on  flat  stones  in  the  fires  to  heat.  Then  she 
handed  the  food  to  the  four  men  and  after  it  milk 
of  walnuts  and  sweet  locust  honey-pods.  Raoul's 


OLD  WOLF  AWAKES  353 

eyes  followed  her  movements  and  even  at  this 
critical  moment  he  noted  the  grace  with  which 
she  walked  and  knelt.  And  as  his  eyes  followed 
her,  so  did  the  eyes  of  Old  Wolf  follow  him,  and 
had  anyone  been  looking  closely  at  Old  Wolf's 
face  he  might  have  caught  the  faintest  smile  of 
satisfaction.  When  they  had  eaten  in  silence  the 
chief,  looking  at  Raoul,  asked: 

"Whence  come  you,  Frenchman?  Do  you 
dwell  always  in  the  villages  of  the  Hurons  and 
Illinois?" 

"I  have  no  lodge,  Old  Wolf,"  answered  Raoul: 
"I  am  a  wanderer  who  has  journeyed  from  the 
snows  to  the  Great  Gulf  where  the  sands  burn 
the  feet.  I  have  followed  the  trail  over  the  wide 
plains  where  the  sun  sets  and  where  the  buffalo 
are  thicker  than  the  leaves  in  the  forest.  I  have 
crossed  the  eastern  waters  in  a  canoe  till,  after 
journeying  for  moons,  I  came  to  the  land  where 
the  Great  Chief  of  the  French  has  his  wigwam. 
Scarcely  for  two  moons  together  do  my  eyes  be 
hold  the  same  horizon." 

There  might  have  been  no  one  else  in  the  lodge 
for  all  the  attention  the  old  Seneca  paid  them. 
Raoul  was  the  sole  quarry  of  his  mind's  bow. 

"But  a  brave  as  young  as  you  goes  not  on  the 
trail  or  the  war  path  to  distant  forests  alone. 


354,          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

What  was  the  name  of  the  chief  you  followed?" 
he  asked. 

"Seigneur  de  La  Salle,"  answered  Raoul 
proudly,  "the  greatest  chief  ever  white  man  or 
red  man  has  followed  in  this  new  world.  Surely 
the  Senecas  have  reason  not  to  forget  the  name 
of  him  whose  courage  and  whose  wisdom  foiled 
them  in  injuring  our  allies  the  Illinois!" 

Raoul  was  well  aware  that  his  words  were  reck 
less,  but  his  life  was  forfeit  in  any  case,  and  he 
would  not  let  this  opportunity  pass  without  sing 
ing  the  fame  of  his  beloved  master. 

"We  remember,"  assented  Old  Wolf,  "and  we 
have  heard  that  the  French  Chief  travelled  to  the 
end  of  the  great  river.  Did  you  go  with  him?" 

"I  was  with  him  that  day  when  the  waters  of 
the  river  came  to  their  end  in  the  great  bay," 
cried  Raoul  fervently,  beholding  in  his  mind  once 
again  the  glory  of  that  hour. 

"And  now,  where  is  the  Chief?"  continued  the 
Seneca. 

"He  is  dead,"  said  Raoul,  his  voice  so  low,  that 
it  was  his  dejected  attitude,  rather  than  his  words, 
which  enlightened  them. 

"He  was  a  great  chief,"  Old  Wolf  remarked, 
nodding  his  head.  "If  Onontio  had  many  such, 
the  Long  House  of  the  Five  Nations  were  in 
great  danger.  I,  who  was  his  foe,  say  this." 


OLD  WOLF  AWAKES  355 

Then  he  added:  "And  whither  were  you  bound 
before  you  foolishly  joined  the  war  path  of  the 
Hurons?" 

"Back  to  Onontio  to  ask  him  to  give  me  a 
village  and  a  lodge  where  I  could  be  a  chief," 
Raoul  replied. 

"Why  go  you  not  back  to  the  village  where  you 
dwelt  before  you  were  old  enough  to  journey 
with  your  great  chief?  Can  you  not  find  the 
trail?" 

"I  came  from  the  village  of  the  Senecas  and 
from  the  lodge  of  Old  Wolf,"  cried  Raoul. 

The  old  Indian  was  silent.  He  asked  no  ex 
planation  of  this  astounding  statement.  All  he 
did  was  to  gaze  calmly  into  RaouFs  face.  At  last 
he  said:  "It  is  Ralo.  Tell  me  how  you  went 
the  day  I  gave  you  the  bow  and  you  came  not 
back  from  the  forest." 

Raoul  told  him  all.  He  had  no  idea  whether 
what  he  related  would  make  his  foe  more  bitter 
to  him  or  not;  but  in  any  case,  the  story  might  as 
well  be  told.  He  had  dreamed  so  many  years  of 
explaining  to  Denise  why  he  had  seemingly  not 
kept  his  promise  to  return  to  her  that  now  he 
wished  her  to  listen,  no  matter  what  happened. 
The  night  before  there  had  been  no  opportunity. 
Old  Wolf  listened  but  in  no  way  showed  the  effect 
this  recital  had  upon  him.  When  Raoul  had 


356          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

finished  the  venerable  chief  rose  and  went  to  the 
opening  of  the  lodge,  looked  out,  and  then  came 
back,  took  Denise  by  the  hand  and  led  her  to  the 
farther  part  of  the  enclosure.  Here  he  bade  her 
sit  beside  him  and  he  began  to  speak  in  a  voice 
that  was  audible  to  all,  though  his  attention  was 
for  her  alone. 

"Red  Cheek,"  he  said,  "harken  to  Old  Wolf, 
whose  lodge  you  have  blessed  with  the  love  of  a 
daughter.  Before  many  moons  the  manitou  of 
the  chief  whose  name  is  revered  by  all  the 
Iroquois  and  feared  by  all  his  enemies  will  de 
part." 

Denise  laid  a  hand  on  his  arm  impulsively,  as 
if  to  stop  him,  but  he  went  on: 

"Does  not  the  acorn  know  that  when  the  winds 
of  the  fall  blow  it  must  drop  to  earth?  And  be 
fore  Old  Wolf  departs,  his  hands  will  give  you 
the  boon  you  ask  of  him — these  captives  shall  go 
free." 

Denise  started  to  pour  out  her  thanks,  when  he 
bade  her  be  quiet  and  continued :  "There  is  little 
time  to  lose.  I,  the  Chief  of  the  Senecas,  cannot 
take  back  what  I  have  said  in  solemn  council, 
but  do  you  see  that  these  men  are  far  from  the 
village  before  the  hour  set  for  their  death.  And 
then,  Red  Cheek,  you  will  follow  the  trail  with 
them  to  the  home  of  your  people." 


OLD  WOLF  AWAKES  357 

Again  he  silenced  her  when  she  would  have  re 
monstrated.  "I  have  lived  long  and  I  have  seen 
trees  fall  that  were  steady,  and  men  die  who  were 
strong,  and  plans  fail  that  seemed  wise.  I,  Old 
Wolf,  many  years  ago  made  a  good  plan :  I  took 
a  white  maiden  and  a  white  boy  that  their 
manitous  might  be  added  to  the  manitous  of  the 
Senecas,  to  bring  us  more  wisdom.  But  the  boy 
left  and  the  maiden — she  will  never  mate  with  a 
Seneca  brave  .  .  .  and  it  is  best  so  ...  she  will 
enter  the  lodge  of  a  white  man." 

Denise's  head  was  bowed  to  her  knees  and  she 
gave  no  word  or  sign. 

"Go!"  repeated  Old  Wolf,  and  his  voice  was 
strangely  gentle.  "Hasten,  my  daughter.  I 
know  your  affection  for  me,  and  that  you  will  not 
forget  me  in  the  years  to  come.  But  when  I  am 
gone  who  would  care  for  you  as  I  do  now,  and 
when  would  another  chance  come  for  you  to  re 
turn  to  your  people?  Leave  me  now." 

Denise  got  to  her  feet  slowly.  Then  she  moved 
about  the  lodge,  bringing  out  provisions  and 
putting  them  before  Old  Wolf.  She  piled  up  the 
fire  high  and  laid  more  wood  within  his  reach. 
It  was  as  if  she  wished  to  show  that  up  to  the  last 
it  was  her  pleasure  to  care  for  him. 

"I  will  not  go!"  she  cried.  "I  will  not  leave 
you!'5  But  even  as  she  said  this,  the  old  chief 


358    WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

was  leading  her  to  the  entrance.  Black  Duck, 
Raoul  and  Swift  Fox  passed  out  into  the  forest, 
and  Old  Wolf  placed  her  hand  in  that  of  Black 
Duck  and  said:  "Hasten  by  the  short  and  secret 
trails  you  know." 

But  as  they  disappeared  into  the  thickness  of 
the  woods  it  was  upon  Raoul,  not  Black  Duck, 
that  the  Seneca's  gaze  was  fixed. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

THE  END  OF  THE  TRAIL 

BLACK  DUCK  had  been  faithful  to  his 
trust,  and  he  had  found  the  shortest,  safest 
trails  and  portages  for  the  canoes  which,  with  the 
aid  of  Raoul  and  Swift  Fox,  he  had  manufac 
tured  when  it  became  safer  and  easier  to  travel  by 
river.  Once  only  had  they  been  in  danger  from 
the  Iroquois.  They  had  been  overtaken  by  some 
hunters  who  surrounded  them.  But  Denise  in 
formed  them  that  she  was  the  daughter  of  Old 
Wolf  and  on  a  mission  for  him,  and  though  the 
Iroquois  could  not  understand  why  she  should  be 
in  company  of  their  foes,  they  did  not  seek  to 
halt  her. 

Now  the  dangers  lay  almost  all  behind  and  the 
journey  was  nearly  at  an  end.  Black  Duck's 
trained  eye  had  noted  that  there  were  fewer 
tracks  of  wild  animals  and  that  consequently  the 
forest  was  more  often  traversed  by  human  beings. 

359 


360          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

Often,  too,  at  nights  they  had  caught  sight  of  a 
distant  fire  which  spoke  of  the  presence  of 
hunters  or  traders. 

"You  shall  soon  see  tilled  fields  and  white 
faces,  Denise,"  said  Raoul  as  they  walked  along, 
stooping  now  and  then  to  pick  a  handful  of 
late  berries. 

"I  shall  miss  the  forest,"  replied  Denise.  "I 
cannot  remember  when  I  have  not  been  lulled  to 
sleep  by  the  sound  of  wind  in  the  branches  or 
birds'  song  between  the  leaves." 

"You  will  not  be  far  from  them  anywhere  in 
New  France,"  comforted  Raoul.  "Even  Quebec 
and  Villemarie  are  but  isles  in  a  sea  of  green." 

"Yet  I  am  sad  that  our  journey  is  almost 
over,"  the  girl  continued.  "In  the  forests  I  am 
still  the  Seneca  prophetess,  and  yonder  what 
shall  I  be,  who  cannot  even  speak  the  tongue  of 
the  white  men?" 

"It  will  not  be  long  before  it  comes  back  to 
you,"  he  said.  "Already  in  this  past  moon  you 
have  remembered  many  words  and  are  able  to 
understand  much  that  I  say." 

"And  you  will  be  my  interpreter  with  my 
father  and  mother?"  she  asked. 

"I  will  not  leave  you  until  you  can  under 
stand  them,"  he  promised. 

"It  is  a  strange  trail  that  we  follow,"  reflected 


THE  END  OF  THE  TRAIL  361 

Denise,  "that  leads  us  back  so  many  years  later 
to  the  point  from  which  we  started." 

"It  is  a  blessed  trail,"  Raoul  corrected,  his  eyes 
shining. 

Swift  Fox,  who  had  been  waiting  just  ahead 
for  the  two  to  catch  up,  caught  sight  of  the  ex 
pression  in  his  friend's  face  and  hurried  on 
to  join  Black  Duck. 

"You  cannot  tell  me  much  of  the  kind  of  life 
the  women  of  my  people  lead,"  Denise  said 
quickly  as  if  she,  too,  had  caught  the  gleam  in 
Raoul's  eyes  and  saw  in  it  a  warning  to  change 
her  way.  "I  fear  that  I  shall  find  it  difficult  at 
first — to  live  always  in  one  lodge  built  so  that  I 
cannot  hear  the  rain  at  night  or  see  the  sky 
through  the  smoke  hole.  Nor  will  my  word  be 
harkened  to  as  the  word  from  the  spirits,  and  I 
doubt  that  the  Governor  will  call  me  to  advise 
him  in  the  council." 

"I  scarce  think  so,"  and  the  two  smiled  at 
their  pleasantry.  "But  you  will  be  happy,"  he 
said,  "in  the  love  of  those  who  love  you." 

"Yes,"  she  assented,  "I  shall  surely  give  love 
to  my  mother  and  father  and  sisters  and  brothers, 
but — "  and  Raoul  knew  that  she  was  thinking 
of  Old  Wolf. 

They  walked  for  a  while  without  speaking,  as 
the  trail  was  a  narrow  one,  winding  between 


362          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

boulders  and  there  was  room  for  only  one  at  a 
time.  When  the  rocks  were  passed  and  he  came 
abreast  of  her  again,  she  asked : 

"What  is  the  difference  between  a  seigneur, 
Raoul,  and  a  habitant?"  She  spoke  these  words 
in  French. 

"A  seigneur  is  a  noble  who  is  sometimes  rich, 
of  old  name,  often  an  officer  of  the  King." 

"And  you  are  a  noble,  Ralo?"  she  questioned. 

"If  an  old  name  makes  me  one,"  he  admitted. 
"I  have  naught  else." 

"And  I  am  the  daughter  of  a  habitant,"  she 
continued.  "I  remember.  They  come  back  to 
me,  the  stories  my  father  used  to  tell,  of  how  he 
left  France  because  in  this  new  world  a  man  who 
was  not  a  noble  had  a  better  chance." 

Raoul  could  not  tell  where  her  thoughts  were 
tending,  but  he  felt  vaguely  disturbed. 

"White  Thrush!"  he  heard  Swift  Fox  call 
ahead  of  them.  "White  Thrush,  come  and  see. 
There  is  smoke  rising  from  the  home  of  a  white 
man.  We  have  reached  the  end  of  the  forest 
trail." 

Raoul  in  his  eagerness  had  run  some  distance 
when  he  discovered  that  Denise  was  not  at  his 
side.  He  stopped  and,  looking  back,  saw  that 
she  was  standing  where  he  had  left  her.  The 
sunlight  had  pierced  through  the  thick  greenery 


THE  END  OF  THE  TRAIL  363 

above  her  and  fell  on  her  dark  hair,  reddening  it 
as  it  reddened  the  pine  trunk  against  which  she 
was  leaning.  There  was  an  attitude  of  timidity, 
of  uncertainty,  about  her  which  went  straight  to 
RaouFs  heart.  All  the  resolutions  he  had  made 
to  be  patient  vanished.  He  turned  and  went  back 
to  her. 

"Denise,"  he  said,  "I  can  wait  no  longer.  I 
had  said  to  myself,  I  will  not  tell  my  secret  until 
I  have  brought  her  safely  to  her  home.  Then 
will  I  say,  'Denise,  will  you  help  me  build  the 
lodge  for  us  to  dwell  in  ?'  But  now  I  see  that  you 
are  sad  and  that  you  are  fearing  what  lies  ahead 
of  you.  So  I  can  wait  no  longer.  I  ask,  as  an 
Indian  asks,  you  to  be  my  squaw;  and  as  a 
Frenchman,  I  tell  you  that  I  love  you,  that  I 
have  loved  you  all  these  years  since  I  lost  you, 
though  I  did  not  know  then  that  it  was  love,  and 
I  beg  you  to  do  me  the  honour  to  become  my 
wife." 

The  girl  had  lifted  up  her  face  as  he  spoke 
and  her  lover  saw  his  own  brightness  reflected  in 
it.  Then  she  let  it  droop  and  shook  it  slowly  as 
she  said: 

"No,  Halo,  it  can  not  be.  I  have  remembered 
that  my  father  said:  'Seigneurs  wed  not  with 
such  we  are,  I  am  not  even  an  Indian  princess 


364          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

now,  and  we  who  are  French  must  live  according 
to  the  ways  of  the  French." 

Raoul  sprang  forward  and  seized  her  hands 
which  he  held  in  a  grasp  so  strong  that  it  was 
painful,  yet  Denise  would  not  have  asked  him  to 
release  them.  "If  that  were  necessary,"  he  cried, 
"I  would  go  back  and  dwell  among  the  Indians 
with  you  as  my  squaw;  but  it  need  not  be  so. 
Yonder  in  New  France  we  are  freer  than  in  old 
France,  and  no  one,  not  even  the  Governor  him 
self,  can  prevent  me  from  making  Demoiselle 
Denise  Dubois,  Madame  De  Larnac.  Think  you 
that  I  could  live  forever  in  a  town,  I  who  have 
slept  beneath  the  stars  most  of  my  life?  I  may 
be  a  noble  and  I  shall  build  me  a  castle  somewhere 
with  the  Greyhound  carved  above  its  gate,  and 
you  and  I  shall  live  there  when  it  pleases  us ;  but 
we  shall  make  our  lodge  too  in  the  wilderness, 
and  shall  abide  there  and  in  the  forts  on  the  fron 
tiers,  and  sweep  down  rivers  in  our  canoes  if — 
if  ...  you  love  me,  Denise." 

"It  is  well,"  she  answered  simply.  "I  will  be 
your  squaw  in  the  forest,  Ralo;  and  if  you  build 
the  castle  I  will  not  fear  to  dwell  in  it,  wherever 
it  be,  as  your  wife." 

Their  first  kiss  was  interrupted  by  Swift  Fox 
who  called  again,  wondering  what  had  become 
of  them.  Raoul  called  back,  "We  are  coming." 


THE  END  OF  THE  TRAIL  365 

When  they  reached  the  edge  of  the  forest  they 
found  that  tilled  fields  and  meadows  adjoined  it 
and  that  at  their  other  end  was  a  hut  of  stone. 

"Now  we  part,"  Black  Duck  announced.  "I 
must  go  back.  You  can  ask  the  trail  from  white 
men  now,  White  Thrush.  I  must  hasten  west 
ward  to  set  my  traps,  or  the  bears  and  foxes  will 
grow  bold,  thinking  Black  Duck  is  dead." 

"Will  you  not  stay  with  us,  friend?"  Raoul 
begged.  "Let  us  sit  down  here  and  take  counsel 
of  the  future." 

They  made  themselves  comfortable  on  the  pine 
needles  and  Raoul  continued:  "Red  Cheek  is  to 
be  my  squaw.  I  think  that  Old  Wolf  knew  this 
when  he  let  us  go  and  that  it  was  what  he  wished. 
And  I  believe  too  that  the  Seigneur  would  be 
pleased  if  he  could  but  know,"  he  added  wistfully. 
"I  shall  do  what  I  think  he  would  wish.  I  shall 
go  to  Onontio  in  Quebec  and  say  to  him  that  I 
beg  him  to  ask  the  King  to  give  me  a  seigneurie 
for  my  home.  I  shall  call  it  Seigneurie  De 
Larnac  and  La  Salle,  in  memory  of  my  master. 
This  shall  be  somewhere  on  the  borders  of  the 
wilderness,  and  if  he  will  come  to  me,  Etienne 
shall  have  a  goodly  home  within  its  confines,  and 
such  other  white  men  who  love  adventures  and  a 
good  musket.  And  it  shall  be  the  home  of  Swift 
Fox"  —  the  young  brave's  eyes  shone  with 


366          WITH  LA  SALLE  THE  EXPLORER 

pleasure  at  this  announcement  —  "and  Black 
Duck  whenever  he  comes  eastward  shall  dwell  in 
our  lodge  and  feast  until  he  himself  commands 
him  to  take  the  trail  again.  It  shall  be  a  place 
where  all  the  Indians  who  love  the  French  shall 
be  welcome,  for  do  not  I  and  my  squaw  speak 
their  language  and  know  their  ways?" 

A  murmur  of  approval  went  up.  Raoul  con 
tinued:  "But  should  I  not  be  an  ingrate  if  I 
forgot  Sieur  Tonty?  I  have  sworn  to  him  that 
when  he  needs  me  I  will  follow  where  he  goes 
and  fight  those  he  fights.  We  two  will  remember 
the  great  dreams  of  our  Seigneur.  We  will 
remember  how  he  said  that  we  should  win  an 
empire  out  of  the  wilderness  for  France.  With 
my  youth  and  my  strength  I  shall  bear  his  dreams 
in  my  mind  and  strive  to  make  them  come  true. 
La  Salle  shall  be  our  watchword.  I  will  colonize ; 
I  will  fight;  I  will  trade.  And  here  in  this  new 
land  we  shall  build  both  an  empire  and  men  for 
France,  and  our  children  shall  praise  forever  the 
name  of  La  Salle!" 


M528463 


Wl 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 


LOAN  DEPT. 


This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


-^^-  -— "••     ^^^fc- 

LA  5 

EXP: 

AT 


ftm 

4 

^ 

*       pr.C'D  U> 

yL_ 

i- 

r^ 

^ 

Mrt 
*-• 

k. 

V 

*• 

LD  21A-50?n-4,'59 
(A1724slO)476B 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


Jtf! 


